That Night
by AnimeElena717
Summary: The role play of the same story of Until Dawn but with my own character in it. Also, my character is paired with Chris. I know I'm messing with a ship but I love Chris. DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT MY OWN CHARACTER
1. chapter 1

**_really love this game and i wanted to do a role play with my character in it and she's going to be paired with Chris. i know im messing with a ship here but i love Chris. dont worry, ill make it work ;)*_**

 **Elena** **Character Stats (rated on scale 1-10)**

 **Honest:** 5

 **Charitable:** 6

 **Funny: 8**

 **Brave: 9**

 **Romantic: 7**

 **Curious: 4**

 **Relationship Status**

 **Ashley: 9**

 **Emily:** 2

 **Jess:** 4

 **Josh: 6**

 **Matt: 5**

 **Mike: 7**

 **Sam: 8**

 **Chris: 8**

 ** _Prologue_**

 _Elena was sitting at the kitchen table, silently giggle as she watched how stupid Josh and Chris were acting now that they were drunk. Most of the group went upstairs to pull a prank on Hannah, though she honestly didn't understnad why. She might have a sense of humor but she wasn't cruel. She knows pranks can go one of two ways: either it's all no harm, no foul and everyone is still friends or it could go drastically wrong and some friendships could end and it seems the latter usually happens. She didn't like that idea. Her friends were everything to her so she didn't want to risk losing them._

"Hey El!" _Someone called out. It was Chris. She loved the nickname he gave her. Nobody but Ashley and Sam call her that and those were her best friends of the group. Chris was the exception though. She and Ashley met him in high school and although he was weird and nerdy at first, he grew on her very much. Their sense of humor complimented each other and even though he was more nerdy, she was right up his alley as she was really bookish and loved video games, which they constantly talked and argued about. It wasn't until junior year where she realized she had a crush on him and the feelings haven't changed, even though it hurt her when she heard that Chris had a crush Ashley. She hasn't told anyone but she was sure Sam and Josh could tell but she feels like it won't happen and she honestly didn't want to ruin her relationship with Ashley or Chris._

"What Chris?" _She asked trying not to laugh at his goofy, drunk expression._

"Why don't you come and join our party? You seem pretty bored!" _He said slurring his words. Elena smiled but politely declined. She wasn't one to drink or do anything dumb as she was smart enough to know what could happen. Sometimes her friends joked about her being a pussy for that._

"Come on Chris, you know I don't drink. It kills the brains." _She replied._

"Suit yourself pussy!" _He said. Yep, there it goes again. Elena laughed it off and pulled out her phone, plugging her earphones, and playing one of her apps. After a while, she found herself sighing sadly as she suddenly thought about Ashley and Chris. What if they ever got together? What would happen? She didn't want anything to taint her friendship with either of them and she was afriad of both choices. If she did tell him, she knows he doesn't like her so it would make it totally awkward for them and who knows how Ashley would react. But if she didn't tell him, they could end up together and she isn't sure if she could be comfortable with them. She let out another sigh. What the hell is she going to do?_

 _It was then when Elena felt rapid thumping on the floor. She looked up to see the door was open a bit. Whoever just passed by must've run out really quickly. She then noticed that both Josh and Chris were passed out. She laughed at this._

"And I thought you were the smart one Chris." _She joked. She went back to her game, ignoring the other rapid thumps she felt. The prank must've took a bad turn, just as she predicted. It's their own fault. They should've seen this coming._

 _She was right though. The prank took a very drastic turn for the worst. The group ended up humiliating Hannah to the point where she ran out into the cold. They tried to stop her but they were too late. Beth had to go out and search for Hannah. This was a mistake, it was all a mistake. Hannah and Beth never came back. Nobody knows what happened to them but that one night had triggered an event that will change their lives forever._

* * *

 **One Year Later**

It's been a year since the night Hannah and Beth went missing. Elena took it a little hard. She never liked losing her friends and she felt stupid for not doing anything. She kept thinking she could've done something to prevent it if she wouldn't have ignored the thumping she felt on the ground. Ashley, Sam, and Chris all tried to cheer her up, reassuring her that none of it was he fault. She didn't feel that way though. Even though it's been a year, she still felt like she had a hand in it.

Chris noticed this the most. She's changed over the past year, becoming a little more secluded and she barely ever hung out with the full group anymore. He spent a lot of time with her, trying to stay close to her as he knew that losing more friends would probably make it worse. Ashley and Sam did the same. It seemed Elena spent more time with the three of them after that night. Her friendship with the others dwindled a little but she never lost contact with them. She felt much closer to Chris but she didn't want anything to happen. She couldn't bear the thought of losing him.

Josh had invited them all back to the lodge. Elena was hesitant to go but Chris convinced her, saying that it would make her feel better to be back with everyone. She decided to go with Chris since she felt more comefortable with him. They got there pretty early so Chris decided to have a little fun.

"You like guns El?" He asked. Elena smiled and nodded. She was nerdy enough to match his love for guns. Even though she wasn't as big of a fan as Chris was, she liked firing them. It felt like a good way to exhilerate herself.

"Come. I found a gun range here." He said. The both walked a bit to find a gun range with rifle there. Chris picks it up and holds it out for Elena to see.

"Look at her. Isn't she amazing?" He asks. Elena laughed at his cheerful grin.

"Yeah. She looks good to shoot with." She replied.

"You've used guns right?" He asked.

"Yeah but I've never used a rifle." She replied. Chris walked over to her, grabbed her hand and walked her over to the range. Elena felt herself blush as he held her hand, even if it was only a little bit. He handed the rifle over to her.

"Well, now you got your chance" He said. Elena smiled at him again. She took a minute to admire the gun she was holding. She loved the feeling of the gun and even though it was a bit heavy for her, she managed to hold it in place.

"Oh, wait! Sam's here. I'll go get her." He said and raced off to Sam's direction. Elena watched from the distance as Sam was in Chris' phone, making him a little annoyed. She knows he loves his phone more than anything, even Ashley. That thought made her a little sad. She wasn't sure how much their relationship has progressed since the passed year. All she could do was hope for the best.

"Hey El!" Sam says. Elena looks up to see Sam and Chris making their way over. She let out a smile and waved. Chris walks up and points over at the gun.

"Ta-dah! Pretty rad huh?" He said enthusiastically.

"Yeah..." Sam replied a little uninterested.

"Come on, look at this beauty!" He exclaimed.

"Uh, beauty isn't the word that comes to mind." She says. "Why is this even here?" Elena looked at her weirdly.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"What the hell is a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?" Sam clarified. Elena chuckled.

"Um, hello, have you ever met Josh's dad?" She asked.

"Yeah...?" Sam replied without confidance.

"He thinks he's like, Grizzly Adams or something." Chris added. He pointed to the gun again. "Wanna try?"

"You go 'head Grizzly." Sam joked. Chris looked over at Elena.

"You gonna fire that yet?" He asked. Elena gave him a smirk. She turned back toward the range and aimed. She shot a few sandbags and even managed to shoot a very thin tree branch that was barely visable.

"Wow! Someone's been practicing." Sam exclaimed. Elena let out a smile.

"No, I'm just that good." She replied. She heard Chris chuckle.

"Yeah, you wish." He said. Elena silently laughed at him. Chris then walked up and took the gun from her hands.

"Hey! What the hell?" She said.

"You had enough time to show off. It's my turn now." He said as he playfully shoved her out of the way. Elena made pouty face but she didn't complain. She knew he was just joking and she also knows he doesn't like to get showed up, especially by a girl.

Chris does the usual and shoots the sandbags and bottles. He managed to shoot a bottle that was a ways off that both Sam and Elena complimented him. A squrriel ran by, which made Elena look over at Sam. She knows how much Sam loves nature so if he shoots it, it might not be good for them. She then heard a gunshot, making her look back at Chris. Thankfully, he decided to shoot a sandbag instead.

"Nice shot." Sam said. Chris looked back at Elena and laughed ar her.

"Your ass just got saaaacked!" He said. Elena rolled her eyes.

"Oh, leave her alone." Sam said. "She will always have a better shot than you ever will." Chris walks up to her and hands her the gun again.

"Well, I'd like to see her try." Chris said smirking. Elena simply stared up at him with a semi-blank expressing. She had a slight smile but she wasn't trying to.

"Hey, sharp-shooter, our ride is coming." Sam said grabbing both of their attentions. Chris whined a little.

"Wait, I'm just getting the hang of this." He said.

"Come on Chris, the cable car!" Sam begins to walk away but she eventually turns back to the two. Elena looks over to Chris and motions with her head to Sam. Chris silently groans, puts the gun away and they all start to walk to the cable car.

"Man, it is definitely... weird coming back up here after a whole year." Chris said on the way. Elena looked sadly at this.

"Yeah. I swear, the _moment_ I got here it all just came flooding back." Sam added.

"A year goes fast." Chris says. Elena hasn't said a word. Chris looks over at her with concern. "El, don't worry. It will all be ok." He put his arm around her.

"Yeah you got nothing to worry about." Sam said. "It'll be good for you to hang out with all of us again." Elena wasn't sure about that but she let out a smile, even though she was sure it wasn't convincing enough. As they walked on, the spotted a wanted post that read _"Victor Milgram"_ and he's been missing since March 16, 1998. The top half of it was missing so they don't know who it was.

"Oh man, look at this." Sam said looking at the poster.

"Nice. You think we'll get a visit from America's most wanted?" Chris joked.

"Looks like someone thought so." Elena said.

"Oh, come on El. This place is abandoned most of the year. Nobody comes up here." Chris replied. They continued on, finally reaching the station door.

"Must be really hard on Josh..." Sam said out of the blue. Elena hasn't seen Josh since that day. She took it pretty hard but she can't imagine how it's been for him, losing both of his sisters.

"I don't know how he keeps it together. I mean, I'd be a wreck." Chris says. He looks over at Elena again, who seemed deep in thought. She was already a wreck, maybe even more than Josh. He kinda wondered if she'll ever be the same as she was before.

"Hey that's weird. The door's locked." Sam said as she tried the door.

"Yeah Josh wanted us to keep it locked, keep people out." Chris replied.

"He said that?" Elena asked. "What people?" Chris shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. He said they found people sleeping in the station one time." He replied. He pulled out a key and walked over to door. Sam mumbled something but Elena didn't catch it. He unlocked the door and stepped out of the way.

"Ladies first." He said. Elena giggled as she and Sam walked into the station.

"A real gentleman." Sam joked. The cable car wasn't there yet so they had to wait a little bit longer. They chatted up a little, joking about what's happened this past year and just talking about random stuff before the car finally showed up.

They met up with Jessica first. Well, more like she met up with them. They got stuck in the station and needed her help to get them out. Elena didn't exactly talk to her as much as the others but when she did, she was fun to talk to. She was confidant in everything, something Elena sometimes she was, though that sometimes got Jess in trouble.

"Oh. My. God. I thought we were goners, another ten minutes in there and I would've chewed off my own leg." Chris joked. Elena made a face of disgust.

"Aw, sick Chris." Sam said.

"Look, I got a lot of meat on my bones. This is all muscle down here." He replied. Elena chuckled.

"Yeah right, I'm sure you got some." She joked. Chris playfully shoved her face away. Elena retaliated by punching him in the arm.

"Ow. Too hard girl." He said rubbing the part she punched.

"Oh, I thought you said you had muscle." Elena said smirking. Chris stuck his tongue out at her.

"Are you lovebirds done yet?" Sam suddenly said. Both of them looked over at her. Sam was mostly looking over at Elena, smiling widely. Elena glared at her and shook her head, making her laugh a little. Elena didn't notice it but Chris got away and swiped the letter Jess was holding.

"Bwip!" He said.

"Hey!" Jess yelled.

"Chris!" Sam said.

"I'm just doing like Sam taught me... Other people's private thoughts are my own personal playground." Chris said.

"Oh come on Chris. Don't be a jerk." Elena said. He wasn't listening as he was already opening the letter. He held his index finger up.

"My goodness. Seems like someone has a lil' crush on our good friend and dear class president Michael Munroe." He said.

"Chris-" Sam tried to say something but he cut her off.

"Aaand what kind of sizzling erotica might our Jessica be capable of imagining?" He said in a weird tone. "I wonder...?" Jess seemed deep in thought before she let out a sigh.

"Mike and Em split. We're together." She said.

"Whoa, _drama_!" Chris said.

"Not really." Jess replied. "Pretty clear cut actually. Em's out, I'm in."

"Huh." Sam simply said. Elena felt like scowling but she fought the urge to. Emily may be her friend but she annoys her so much with her attitude. She can be narcissitc and sometimes underminds everybody else, even if they were her lover. It's no surprise they broke up. Mike was too good for her in her opinion. He was a a really nice guy and always meant well in whatever he did, even if it doesn't exactly mean well for everyone else. She's not sure how he and Jess will be together but she knows it'll be better than Mike.

"Well, let's just get up to the lodge already. Getting tired of all this nature and junk." Chris said.

"Uh, you guys go on ahead. I'm just gonna wait here for a bit. See who else is coming." Jess said.

"You mean Mike?" Elena teased. Jess looked up at her quickly.

"What? Uh, I mean, you know, whoever." She said.

"Uh huh." Elena said smirking. Jess rolled her eyes and sat back on the bench. As Sam admired the view, Elena decided to stay with Chris and talk a little.

"Why was she snooping in your phone anyway?" She asked.

"Oh, it was nothing. Apparently Ash texted me." He said. His face suddenly changed. "Shit I haven't texted her back." He pulled his phone at that. Thank God he did so he didn't have to see Elena's disappointed face. She also hoped he didn't hear the sigh she let out.

"Dammit I have no signal here." He said in frustration. "How will I ever survive out here?" Elena took this opertunity and snatched his phone.

"Come on! Why did you bring me here if you're going to be on your phone the whole time?" She joked. Chris rolled his eyes.

"I mean, you did need to break out of the shell you made a year ago." He suddenly realized what he said. Elena had a somewhat hurt look on her face but she was trying to hide it.

"Oh shit, El I didn't mean that! I was just, I-I mean, it came to my mind so I just-" Elena put her hand over his mouth.

"Chris, it's fine." She said with a sad expression. She removed her hand. "You're right, I should break out of this shell." She hated to admit it, but ever since that night, she's never been the same. Chris let out a sigh and hugged her.

"Hey, don't worry about it El." He said. "You'll feel better in no time." Elena hugged him back. This already made her feel much better, being in his warm embrace. He was the first to break it.

"Now let's get out of here. I know how you are with the cold. Soon enough, you're going to be complaining my ears off." He teased. Elena scoffed.

"Well that's putting it lightly." She said. They both laughed as they head off together.

 ** _hope you guys like this chapter. i worked hard on it. just a heads up, i might take longer with this story's chapters since i have to put a lot of thought in this. please review so i know what to work on. thx guys!*_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As Elena, Josh, Chris and Sam climbed to the lodge, Elena silently laughed as she heard Chris complaining about his phone again. It was one of his most cute moments. They finally got up to the lodge and Ashley and Matt were waiting on the steps.

"Hey guys! Get up here ok?" Josh greeted.

"Yeah... well more or less." Ashley responded looking over at Matt. Elena could tell he looked a little upset. "But it's so good to see you!" Ashley smiled.

"What's up with him?" Elena asked. Matt didn't say anything and instead walked past them. Elena got along with Matt well enough but he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. He was more about sports, which was something Elena wasn't very fond of but everyone had their passions. She had to admit, Matt was a pretty good athlete. As Josh and and Chris walked over to the door, Elena sat down with Ashley, who let out a huge smile.

"I'm so glad you decided to come!" She said. Elena smiled back.

"Yeah, you can thank Chris for that." Elena replied. "He practically didn't give me a choice and he wouldn't shut up about it, which annoyed me to no end." Ashley laughed and looked over at Chris.

"Yep that sounds like him." She said. Elena kept her smile even though it hurt to see Ashley look at Chris like that. They then heard steps coming to them. They both turned to see Chris coming back down.

"Hey Ash." He said. Ashley waved.

"Hi Chris!" She said.

"So how're you doing?"

"Mm... good but a little cold. I think I could use some time curled up by the fire."

"Yeah... that sounds pretty nice." Chris then walked on over to Matt and Sam and Josh shortly followed. Elena saw the way Ashley was looking at Chris, which made her a little sad. She hugged her knees and buried her head into them, letting out a sigh. Is this how it's going to be the whole time she sees them together? If it is, she feels like she won't be able to survive the night. She hugged her knees tighter.

"Are you cold too?" She heard Ashley say. She lifted her head from her knees. She then noticed Chris and Josh weren't around anymore.

"Where's Chris?" She asked. Ashley shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not sure." She replied. "I think they went to go find another way in. It seems like the door's frozen." Elena looked back at the door. She could faintly make out ice on the lock. Great, now they had to wait here a little longer.

"Hey, what's with Matt?" Elena asked. Ashley let out a sigh.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have let him look through that telescope." She said. She took in another breath before she continued. "I saw Em and Mike hugging each other and I let him see it." Elena's eyes went wide. She looked back at Matt who still looked a little upset. Elena let out a sigh and patted Ashley's back.

"Don't worry Ash. It's not your fault." She said. Ashley gave her a smile.

Sam, Josh, and Matt joined them on the steps a little while later. It seemed to be right on cue because it was then when Chris had opened the door. He bowed down playfully.

"Thank, thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week-" Right then, a small wolverine runs out the door, making him scream in fear. This made the whole gang burst into laughter.

"Crap that thing freaked me out!" He said. Elena stepped up to him.

"What was it? Are you ok?" She asked.

"It was like a bear or a tiger or something." He replied still a little shaken.

"Aw it was just a cute little baby wolverine!" Sam squeal. Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Baby?" He asked. Josh came up to him.

"Don't worry buddy. You're gonna be a big boy soon." He joked. Chris groaned as Josh entered. Elena chuckled as she patted his back.

"Come on you baby. I'm freezing out here." She said. Chris rolled his eyes but he followed Elena in and so did the others.

"Home, sweet home." Josh said.

"Sweet is not the word I'd use." Matt said. Ashley let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh my gosh it's SO GOOD to be inside. Even if it's stil kinda freezing in here." She said.

"I'll get a fire going." Josh said. Elena wandered around a little. The place hasn't changed at all since that night. It didn't really surprise her as no one has been here.

"What's up party people!" She suddenly heard. She turned to see Mike and Jessica coming in.

"Hey!" Jessica said. It was then Elena remembered what Ashley told her, making her look over at Matt. She noticed that he was a little tense in his stance.

"Make yourself at home bro." Josh said.

"Will do." Mike replied. Matt stepped up to him

"Yeah. Come on in. Take a load off. Have whatever you want. You just take whatever you want anyways, right?" He said almost hostile-like.

"Whoa, easy there cowboy." Mike said. Elena walked over to them but she kept her distance, just in case something would happen.

"Mike, stay away from my girlfriend." Matt said.

"Dude, what are you talking about?" Mike asked.

"Stay away from Emily."

"Emily? Why would I want anything to do with Emily?"

"What the hell were you doing with Em out on the trail, huh?"

"What?"

"I saw you and Em. Through the telescope."

"Before? We just ran into each other. It'd been a while so we hugged and I said hello. Is that against the law?" Elena noticed Matt's face softened and his stance looked a little relaxed. He let out a sigh.

"Right... yeah... duh. Sorry. It's been kind of a long day. I overreacted." He said.

"Nah man. Don't worry about it." Mike said.

"We cool?" Matt asked. Mike gave him a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Totally." He said. Elena smiled at this. She's glad nothing major happened. Her smile faded right when Emily came into the room. She immediately started insulting Jessica and Mike. She rolled her eyes and tried to walk away to avoid the fight.

"Hey bitch!" She heard Emily shout. She groaned silently. She knew she was talking to her. She really didn't want to fight anyone.

"I'm talking to you Elena!" Emily shouted again. Elena rolled her eyes again and forced herself to turn around.

"Em, leave her alone!" Jess said. Emily pushed by her and marched right up to Elena.

"Did you really expect to waltz back here and have a warm welcome from everybody?" She asked. "How long has it been since you hung out with all of us, huh?" Elena simply stared at her, trying her best to keep her cool.

"Em stop it!" Sam said. "You don't know what the hell she's been through." Emily just scoffed.

"Was it that bad for her not to talk to us?" She asked. "I mean, was it that hard for you to at least leave a call or something?" Elena felt a little hurt at this. She didn't know what to say or do. Emily suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders very tightly.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself, you stupid bitch!" She shouted again. It was then Chris came in and pushed Emily off of her. This surprised both Elena and Emily.

"Back off Em!" He said angrily. "Josh isn't the only one who took Hannah and Beth's disappearance hard, you know! How inconsiderate can you be?" Emily didn't say a word. She stared at them, shifting her eyes between Elena and Chris. She finally decided to back down and walked back to Matt. Josh went over to calm the rest of the group down while Ashley and Sam ran over to Elena, who was holding her head and being comforted by Chris. After Josh calmed them down, he went over to the others.

"Is she ok?" He asked. Elena didn't answer. She looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"She just needs some time to chill." Chris said. Josh nodded.

"Yeah. Take all the time you need Elena." He said. "Sorry about that. I know it's been hard for you too." Elena did her best to smile even though it was probably a pitiful one. Josh walked back to the others. Elena felt someone pull her.

"Come sit down El." Ashley said. They walked her over to the couch and sat with her. Elena still didn't say anything. Emily's words hit her really hard and she couldn't deny the fact that she was right. She barely ever talked to the others so it was a little understandable why Emily would say these things to her, even if it still hurt. She felt tears forming in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away, hoping no one noticed.

Chris did though. He saw her eyes get glossy for a second and he noticed her tense up a little. He held her hand to try to calm her down. It didn't seem like she noticed but he felt her squeeze it, which reassured him a little.

"I'm going to take a bath. Be back later." Sam said. She got up and started to walk to the upstairs room. Before she left, she lifted Elena's head up to meet her, giving her a warm smile. "Hang in there El. It'll be ok." Elena smiled back and Sam left.

The next few minutes, Elena started to feel a little better. Emily ended up forgetting one of her bags so she and Matt ended up going back to get it, which relieved Elena greatly. Meanwhile, Josh was still trying to find a way to get some heat into the lodge since it was so cold.

"How long do you think it'll take him?" Chris asked.

"My money's on blankets for everyone!" Ashley replied.

"You can do it, man. We believe in you!" Chris cheered.

"Yeah! Totally! Woo!" Ashley joined in. "Let's go Jo-osh, let's go!" That made Elena smile.

"Hey, she finally smiled!" Chris said. Ashley clapped happily and hugged her tightly. This made her smile more.

"Alright, peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you three." Josh suddenly said.

"What?" Ashley asked.

"Okay well I am pretty sure that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have... a spirit board." Josh replied. Elena looked at him weirdly.

"A what?" She asked.

"Wow you have a 'spirit board'?" Chris said.

"Wait are you saying we should have a seance?" Ashley asked.

"Those things are a joke man. They don't do shit." Chris said.

"No way bro. We used to do it all the time. Me and... well..." Josh trailed off. Sam then came down from the stairs.

"Hey Josh. No hot water's kinda major oversight doncha think?" She said.

"Yeah yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler. It's in the basement. You guys see if you can find a spirit board." Josh said. Ashley stood up excitedly.

"Chris, let's go find it! It'll be like a scavenger hunt!" She exclaimed.

"Ummm... Ok, guess so." Chris said as he stood up. "You coming El?" Elena shook her head.

"Nah, I'll go with Josh." She said. Chris nodded in reponse.

"Rad. You're not gonna regret it." Josh said. With that, Chris and Ashley left to find the board and Josh, Elena and Sam left for the basement. Along the way, Josh let out a chuckle and turned to the girls.

"Hey. You notice how I gave Chris and Ash a mission together? Yeah I was thinking they could use some 'alone time.'" He said. Sam then slapped him the head.

"Shut up Josh! You know how El feels about Chris!" She said. Josh suddenly looked at Elena, who looked a little disappointed.

"Ah shit, sorry Elena! It's been a while, I just forgot." He apologized. Elena shook her head with a small smile.

"It's fine Josh. It probably won't happen anyway." She said. Sam put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't say that. You never know what could happen." She said. Elena did a sarcastic laugh.

"Are you kidding? Have you seen the way they look at each other?" She said. She let out a sad sigh. "I'd give anything for him to look at me like that."

"Damn, this love triangle is real." Josh said. Sam glared at Josh. He quickly put his hands up for defense. "Hey, I was just saying!"

"Can we just go? I don't want to talk about this." Elena said. Josh let out a sigh.

"Elena, I'll just say this," He said. "You have as much chance as Ashley does. You and Chris actually have a lot in common. You know, now that I think about it, you and Chris would be perfect for each other."

"Don't over do it Josh." Sam said. "We don't want to get her hopes up."

"Aw, little faith ye have!" He responded. They all ended up laughing at this. Elena couldn't help but notice that Sam and Josh looked cute together. They almost seemed to be flirting here... almost. They continued on to the basement, finally reaching it, armed withnothing but flashlights. As they were descended down the stairs, Josh spoke up again.

"You know, guys..." He said.

"Yeah Josh?" Both girls said.

"I just wanted to say..." He trailed off again.

"What?" Sam asked.

"It really means a lot to me that everyone came back this year and you know, that you came, Sam." Sam smiled at him.

"Josh, we're here for you. Really. Whatever you need. Whenever. We're all gonna make it through this... together." She said. Josh nodded.

"Um... I want us have a good time." He said. They decided to continue, finally reaching the boiler. Elena shined a light for them as they argued and tried to figure out how to turn it on. Elena laughed to herself. She could see now they were definetly flirting this time.

As soon as they were done, a rythmic noise was coming from somewhere in the basement. They all argued whether or not to check it out but they finally decided to with Elena going first since they were both too scared. As she came closer to the sound, a cloaked masked man suddenly jumped out, scaring all of them and making them run. They managed to slow him down by tipping over a board but when they got to the door, it was locked. Sam and Elena started to panic.

"Oh come ON now why are these doors locked?!" Sam screamed as she kept trying for the door.

"To keep out strangers!" Josh said. Elena noticed he was looking down the stairwell. She followed his gaze to find the masked man just standing there.

"Hey..." He said. Elena raised an eybrow.

"What?" She asked herself aloud. She swears she recognized the voice.

"Heeyyyyyy." He said again. Elena's eyes went wide as she knew exactly who it was.

"What the hell?" Sam said. The man then took his hood off to reveal to be Chris.

"Boom! You just got monked!" He said. Elena tried to keep her laughter in, covering her mouth to hide her smile.

"WHAT?!" Sam shouted.

"Nice. Nice one. That was good." Josh said smiling.

"Why w-why would you do that?" Sam asked still shaken.

"There's all this cool old movie crap down here. What, was I... was I not supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?" Chris said.

"Are you... are you serious?" Sam sounded a little pissed. She looked at Elena and Josh who were all smiling widely. "Were you two in on this?" Both shook their heads.

"Nope. But I wish I was! That was too good!" Both Josh and Elena gave Chris a high-five. They all went upstairs after that.

"I'm ready to admit that your dumb little prank may have had a slight whiff of humor to it." Sam said.

"Jokemaster!" Chris exclaimed.

"I said nothing about jokes. I said your prank, which was dumb-" Josh cut her off there.

"Holy crap you were scared. Admit it!" he said.

"I was not!" She immediately denied.

"Come on, you totally pissed yourself!"

"Josh!" Ashley then came in.

"What... in God's name... are you wearing?" She asked staring weirdly at Chris.

"I found my true calling." He replied.

"Please tell me you're going to take a vow a silence." She said. Chris jokingly accepted, pretending to speak inaudibly, making Elena chuckle and put her hand over his mouth to stop him.

"Ok ok... Did you find the board by the way?" She asked releasing her hand. Chris then took out an Ouiji board from his costume.

"Boi-oi-oi-oing! Here's our one way ticket to the spirit realm!" He announced. Both Ashley and Elena admired the board for the second.

"You know what? You know what? No! I've just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball." Sam said still a little cranky. Everyone nodded at her. "Alright? So have fun... Oh but watch out for that Josh. He's a schemer!"

"Ok!" Josh said. With that, Sam headed off to take a bath and Josh, Ashley, Chris and Elena headed off to do their seance.

 ** _just writting about this makes me imagine it in the game. hope you enjoy and continue if you want to see more.*_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Josh, Elena, Chris, and Ashley were about to start the seance as they all sat around a table. Elena decided to sit this out since she really didn't like this kind of stuff but she sat at the table and watched. Chris, as always, had to make a joke about it.

"So it says here: 'to communicate with the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the Spirit-master,' which is me-"

"It doesn't say that!" Ashley said.

"... and all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion." Chris finished. Elena rolled her eyes.

"Chris, come on, this is serious." Josh said annoyed.

"Oh, I'm deadly serious." Chris replied.

"Oh shut it, just hurry up and do it." Elena said.

"Yes please." Josh said. The three of them put their hands on the pointer.

"Okay then, let's see what happens. Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for today?" Chris said.

"Ok. Um... anyone there? Will you reveal yourself to us... if you're there?" Ashley asked. The pointer then starts to move.

"Wait a minute..." Chris mumbled to himself.

"Did you do that?" Josh asked Ashley.

"I didn't do anything!" She replied.

"It's moving again." Chris pointed out. Elena watched carefully as the pointer moved to the H

"H..." She mumbled.

"What's it spelling?" Josh asked. Elena watched as it traced more letters.

"Hold on." She said.

"How's this happening?" Josh asked.

"Are you moving it?" Chris asked Ashley.

"I swear it's just moving." She denied.

"Holy shit." Josh said. Elena made a face as the pointer stopped spelling and made a word.

" _Help_ " She said.

"How are we supposed to help?" Chris asked.

"I don't know. What does it mean?" Ashley asked.

"We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them." Chris said.

"Who are you?" Ashley asked. The pointer starts moving again. "Oh here it goes."

"Ok. _S._ " Josh reads.

" _I._ "

" _S._ "

" _T_ "

" _E._ "

" _R._ "

" _Sister._ Sister?" Elena said. She felt a shiver down her spine.

"Whose sister?" Josh asked.

"Oh come on is this for real?" Chris asked

"Shut up. Ask it whose sister." Josh said.

"Josh... it's-it's gotta be..." Ashley trailed off.

"Yeah? Ok well... which sister is it then." He said. Ashley stared at the board for a second.

"Ask who it is Ash." Elena said. She let in a deep breath.

"Who are we speaking to? Hannah...? Is that you?" She asked. The pointer then moved to the _yes._ Elena felt a lump in her throat.

"Oh God." Ashley mumbled.

"This is meesed up." Chris said.

"Josh... are you-" Elena tried to say but he cut her off.

"I'm fine." Josh said.

"Are you sure? Because we can stop-" Ashley said.

"No."

"Dude it's cool-"

"I want to hear what it says." Josh insisted.

"I don't know where to start..." Ashley said.

"Think about it. If this is actually Hannah, I mean, we can find out what happened that night." Chris said.

"Oh... kay. Umm... let me think." Ashley thought about what to ask. "Hannah, if you can hear this... like, really hear this... We all want to apologize for what happened."

"It was stupid and mean and we're sorry." Chris said.

"We're so sorry Hannah." The pointer started moving again. Elena watched closely to see what it was spelling.

" _B-E-T-R..._ " She gasped as it finished the word.

"Uh oh." Chris mumbled.

"I don't like this." Ashley said.

" _Betrayed._ " Elena mumbled.

"What does she mean?" Josh asked. The pointer was still moving.

"It's still going!" Chris exclaimed.

"Oh God."Ashley mumbled.

" _K-I-L-L-E-D..."_ Elena spelled out.

"No!" Ashley yelled.

"Killed?" Josh asked.

"We didn't KILL them! It was just a prank!" Ashley said.

"Ash, calm down ok? Just, we need to find out more." Chris said.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Guys, guys... what do they mean?" Josh asked.

"Ask them what happened. It's the only way to know! Ask them, Ash!" Chris said.

"Ok, Ok. How did you die? Hannah, what happened to you?" She asked. The pointer was moving again.

" _L-I-B..."_ Elena read to herself.

"Library!" Chris said. "Maybe there's something in the library here."

" _P-R-O-O-F."_

 _"Proof._ There's-there's... there's proof."

"In the library?" Elena asked. Just then, the board starts shaking and the pointer flips off the board, making all of th em jump.

"Watch out!" Josh shouted.

"WHOA!" Chris quickly moved away from the table.

"Holy shit Chris!" Ashley exclaimed.

"You know what? No, this is bullshit. This isn't real." Josh said.

"Josh, I don't know what's going on..."Ashley said.

"Listen, I don't know if you think messing with you is somehow going to help me with my grief or whatever but this is not cool." Josh said.

"Josh no!" Elena said. "You wanted to use the board-"

"Hey calm down. It's not anybody's fault." Chris said.

"I don't need this right now, ok! You guys are full of it!" Josh stomped out of the room angrily.

"Sh-should we go after him?" Ashley asked. Elena wanted to so badly but who knows if he even wanted them around at the moment.

"Ah man. I mean, he'll be ok. Let's- let's just guve him some time." Chris said.

"I don't blame him. That was crazy. The pointer flew right off the table!" Elena said.

"I mean if-if you were faking it you were doing one hell of a job-" Chris said.

"I wasn't faking anything!" Ashley said. Elena let out a sigh.

"Well, I think we should do what it says. We should look in the library." She said. They all reluctantly agreed and got up to head off. Along the way, Chris got close to Elena and leaned to her ear.

"Are you ok too?" He asked. Elena gave him a look.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, this has to do with Hannah and Beth. I just wanted to make sure you were ok." He said. Elena nodded her head slowly.

"I'll be fine. Besides, at least we get to find out what happened to them." She said. She couldn't stop thinking about Josh though. He seemed really pissed after the whole ordeal and she didn't know why, but she felt something was off about all this. They finally made it to the library and immediately started looking around for clues.

"Do you really think the girls were communicating with us?" Chris asked.

"I don't know. I don't know if I wish they were or I wish they weren't." Ashley replied.

"I guess we should find out." Elena said. They wandered around the library for a moment in silence.

"Josh looked really freaked out at the seance." Ashley said.

"Yeah, I mean he looked like he was keeping it together but..." Elena trailed off before she could finish.

"Do you think we shouldn't have mentioned his sisters?" Ashley asked.

"I mean, it's why we came back up here." Chris said.

"Yeah but, not to like, have a seance. Maybe we went too far." Ashley tried to get a door open but it was locked. She cursed at herself softly. Elena and Chris walked by a bookshelf when a few books suddenly started flying off.

"Jesus! Look out!" Chris shouted as he pushed Elena out of the way.

"Ah Chris! Holy Crap!" Elena yelled. They both narrowly dodged all the books until they were in the clear.

"Are you alright?" Chris asked. Elena nodded.

"I think so." She said. She looked down to straighten herself out but she froze as she saw where Chris' hands were, right on her hips. She felt herself go extremely hot.

"Um, Chris..." She managed to say. Chris looked at her confused when he realized where she was looking. He quickly removed his hands and put them in his pockets.

"Sorry!" He said all flustered. Elena put her hands to her face trying to calm herself down.

"Hey guys, look!" Ashley suddenly said. Both of them looked her direction.

"What?" Chris asked.

"There is something behind the books. What is that?" She said. They all crowded around the area where the books flew off.

"Is it a button?" Chris asked.

"Why would there be a button?" Elena asked.

"That's a good question." Chris said.

"Should I push it?" Ashley asked.

"Thst's what buttons are for I guess." Chris said. Ashley pushed the botton and the walls suddenly begin to open. "Whoaa. Panel opens. Head explodes." Chris admired.

"Are we like, in a movie right now?" Elena asked.

"If we are, I hope it's a rom-com." Chris said.

"Leave it to the Washington's to have secret passages in their house." Ashley said.

"Maybe they didn't even know. This place is super old." Elena pointed out.

"So... should we take a look?" Ashley asked.

"After you." Chris said.

"No no nonono... you go." Ashley said. Chris shoom his head.

"Ladies always go first." He said. He then turned to Elena. "Milady?" Elena giggled.

"Fine, since you two are too scared." She said. She stepped us as she entered through the doors. Chris lit a candle and handed it to Elena. She thanked him playfully and theg followed behind her. As they ventured on, Elena found a portrait of the twins, which made her heart twinge a little. She picked it up and examined it, finding a letter on the back. She opened it and let out a silent gasp.

"What did you find?" Ashley asked. She looked over to her two friends and took in a breath.

"Um guys... I don't want to freak you out but... look at this." She gave it to them. Both crowded around the letter.

"WHAT? Chris, what is that?!" Ashley asked.

"I-I think this might be what the spirit board wanted us to find." He said.

"The clue?"

"Yeah, it's a letter."

"Let me see it." Ashley took the note from Chris.

"It's... a threat." Elena said.

"Guys, this is serious. We need to find Josh now." As they headed out of the room, fhe heard a door creak open.

"Uh, what was that?" Ashley asked. They all stopped to listen again but nothing else happened. Elena was a little disturbed by the letter.

"Do you think someone was actually after Hannah and Beth?" She asked.

"If so that would be really messed up." Chris said. They all searched the room a little more, finding more disturbing clues along the way. They decided to call it and headed out of the room again. They heard a bang from a door nearby and they hear Josh scream.

"You hear that?"Chris asked.

"That was Josh!" Elena exclaimed.

"Coming from the kitchen!" Ashley said. she ran to the door and opened it. She yelled Josh's name out loud.

"Josh! We're coming, hold on!" Chris yelled. As he and Elena were about to go, Ashley was suddenly pulled in and the door closed in front of them. They heard Ashley scream from the other side.

"ASHLEY!" Elena yelled out. She was about to try the door but Chris pulled her back.

"You stay out here!" He said.

"What?! No, I'm-" She didn't get to finish as Chris already broke the door down. Elena could see Ashley on the ground but just as she was about to go in with Chris, someone in a mask punched him in the face, knocking him out. The masked man then turned to her. Elena froze, too confused and scared to think. She tried to run away but the man grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him. Her wrist started burning as he twisted it very tightly.

"Let me go!" She yelled. She managed to step on his foot, giving her second as he released her. It wasn't enough though as he quickly grabbed her again, this time shoving her to the wall with his hand around her neck tightly, almost choking her.

"You've always been feisty Elena." A distorted voice said. She was surprised that he knew her name. "I've always admired that about you." He then brought out a rag and put it over her mouth. Elena struggled to remove one of his hands but he was too strong for her. She then started feeling drowsy as she breathed in the chloroform. Soon, she felt everything fade away as she was overcome by darkness.

 ** _Omg it's starting to get good guys!!*_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

She woke up hearing a distorted voice. She couldn't make out what it was saying or who it was. It kept stopping and would call out at random. As her conciousness started to come back, she could make out her name and that it was a man's voice. Before she could think of anything else, she realized the situation she was in. She couldn't see since it was so dark but her mouth was taped shut and her arms and legs were also taped together. She felt like freaking out as she tried to remember how the hell she got there.

"Elena!" She heard the voice. "Ashley, where are you?" She almost felt a little more relaxed as she recognized that it was Chris. She also started hearing someone softly. This sounded much closer and it sounded like Ashley. She heard something fall nearby and Chris cursed.

"Chris?" Ashley called out.

"Ash, I'm here!" He called back.

"Please, help me!"

"I'm coming Ash. Just keep talking to me! Is Elena with you?"

"I-I don't know! I can't see anything and I'm tied up!"

"Ashley I'm gonna get you out of this, don't worry!"

"I'm really scared Chris! Hurry please! Oh God Chris, you have to get me out of here before he comes back!" Elena started hearing footsteps coming closer to her and then a light suddenly turned on. Elena could see now she was in some sort of cage or something, looking over to Ashley and Josh who were tied up against a board and she could see Chris on the other side behind a gate. Elena wanted to scream out but she knew it wouldn't make a difference if she did. She wanted to crawl closer but she could now see her hands were tied to the wall so she couldn't move at all and she must've been in the blind side or something because it didn't seem like Ashley or Chris could see her.

"Chris? Are you there?" Ashley said.

"Hello." A distorted voice suddenly boomed inti the room. "And thank you all for joining me."

"JOSH! Oh my God JOSH, WAKE UP!" Ashley yelled. Josh then woke up.

"Huh? What- what is this?" He said. A door nearby was being banged on the other side. It must be Chris trying to break through. Elena struggled with the bonds but it was hard to move with the duck tape in the way.

"Tonight we're going to conduct a little experiment. A sort of test." The voice said.

"Ashley what the hell is going on? Where's Elena?" Josh asked.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" Ashley said clearly distressed.

"Oh, don't worry, she's safe... for now." The voice said. Elena swallowed. "Now, for this experiment, we'll need the cooperation of our two test subjects... Joshua and Ashley."

"Holy shit. Oh my God." Josh said.

"But we're going to need more than one brave participant to help decide... which subject will live, and which will die." Elena felt her eyes widen as she looked over at the door

"OH NO! My God, Oh my God!" Ashley was freaking out. "Oh God, CHRIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LET ME DOWN FROM HERE YOU MANIAC!" Josh screamed.

"Please. Please please, everyone calm down." The voice said. "It's all very simple. Christopher, you will find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do... is choose who you will save!" Elena, out of reflex, lurched her body foreward, forgetting she was tied up. It was then she noticed a huge saw right in front of Ashley and Josh.

"Oh no... please! This can't be happening! Oh God oh God oh God! This isn't right." Ashley cried out.

"Shit... shit, no! Okay... okay, okay, okay, this is gonna be okay." Josh said trying to calm down. Elena could see Chris thinking real hard.

"Oh my God! CHRIS, YOU CAN'T LET ME DIE!" Ashley yelled.

"Just, just-just gimmie a second." Chris said. "I-I can't think straight... shit." He looked down at the lever. He put his hands to his head.

"God Ash... I'm sorry!" He said. Elena was surprised at this.

"Chris please! Oh- oh God!" Ashley cried. Chris looked down at the lever and moved in Josh's direction. The saw started moving but instead of moving to Ashley, it started moving to Josh.

"AAHH!! NO CHRIS!" He yelled. Elena lurched foreward again, still unable to do anything.

"Ah, I see. You have chosen to save Ashley." The voice said.

"Oh no. It's a mistake! That's not what I meant! Josh I'm so sorry... I didn't mean for this to happen!" Chris said. Elena watched helplessly as Josh screamed in fear and agony as the saw drew closer to him and sawed him in half. Elena felt tears go to her eyes and she wanted to cry out.

"OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, CHRIS! GET US OUT OF HERE!" Ashley cried out. She had her eyes closed and her head turned away since all the blood was splashing on her. Josh's screaming ceased as it cut through him completely and fell. Elena forced herself to look away. She felt a tear escape her eyes as she struggled to wipe them. When she looked back, she saw Chris untying Ashley. As she was let down, she looked over at Josh's body.

"NOOO!" She wailed sadly. Chris covered her eyes.

"Don't look Ash." He said. He looked up at the ceiling. "Hey, you sick fuck! Where is Elena? What did you do to her?" There was a moment of silence there. "ANSWER ME!"

"Elena... is a special case." The voice said. Elena swallowed again and she started breathing rapidly. "And as I said before, she's safe... unless you want her to die too Chris."

"NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Ashley screamed. "GIVE HER BACK ALREADY!!"

"Now, now, don't be so rash." The voice said. "Unless you want her to be the next dead body you see, I suggest you leave now."

"No, I won't leave without her!" Chris shouted. Ashley started crying more.

"Please, don't hurt her. Just let her go." She cried.

"You're trying my patience." The voice said. "Leave now or she dies." Elena felt more fear settling in as she slumped down the wall. Ashley cried some more but she started pulling Chris to the door.

"Come on Chris, let's go." She sobbed.

"No, we can't." He said. "I can't leave without Elena!"

"He said he'll kill her if we don't go. Please!" Ashley sobbed some more. Chris groaned out loud in frustration.

"We're coming back Elena! I'm coming back for you!" He cried out. Elena watched as both of them exited the room. Elena looked down at the ground, feeling more tears falling down her cheeks as she cried, fearing for her life and wondering what was going to happen to her.

"Aw, don't be sad El." She heard. Her eyes bolted open as she recognized the voice. She looked up in disbelief as Josh was stand right in front of her, alive and well. "We were just having some fun." He had smile that sent an eerie feeling throughout her whole body. He opened whatever she was in and reached for her. She was too shocked to do anything as he carefully took the duck tape off her mouth. She winced a little when it finally came off.

"Sorry 'bout that." He said. "I couldn't let you make noise. I had to see this play out." He chuckled a little. "You know, I'm honestly quite surprised that he picked me. Knowing him, I was sure he would've picked Ashley but apparently I was wrong."

"Why?" Elena finally was able to say. "Why would you do this? Was it just 'cause of the seance we had?"

"Oh, I wouldn't do this for a little thing like that." He replied.

"Then why? What the hell are you doing? Where's that... other guy?" She said.

"Well, that other guy was me." He said. Elena was again in shock as she quickly flashed back to when he knocked out Chris and pinned her to the wall. Josh suddenly reached over to her again. Elena tried to back away but she had nowhere to go since she was up against the wall. She shivered a little as he gently lifted her head. He poked her neck a little, which sent a slight sting to her, making her lean away out of reflex. Josh winced a little.

"Damn it, that's gonna leave a mark." He said. He shook his head. "I honestly didn't want to hurt since you didn't want to be part of the prank but, like I said, you've always been a feisty one." Elena's eyes widened.

"The prank from a year ago? Is that why you did all this?" She asked. She didn't want to get angry with him but it was getting really close to that point.

"Well I had to! They're the reason why Hannah and Beth are gone! Wouldn't you do the same?" He said.

"No, I wouldn't do this! I hate the fact that I lost two of my friends but I don't want to lose anymore! This is just insane!" She replied. Josh scoffed as he stood up and turned around.

"Yeah, of course you wouldn't do anything." He said. "You don't know the amount of pain I've been through this past year." Elena was shocked again.

"How can you say that, Josh?" Elena said with fury. "I had to live with the guilt that I didn't do anything to stop the prank. You think I haven't suffered like you? How fucking selfish can you be?!" Josh suddenly turned around and punched Elena on her right cheek and she almost hit the wall. Josh groaned in frustration.

"Dammit Elena, I said I didn't want to hurt you!" He shouted. Elena rubbed her cheek. Josh groaned again. "Look, I'm sure you don't agree with what I'm doing but you're not going change my mind about it. That being said, I can't have you ruin it." Elena saw him reach into his pocket and pulled out the rag again. She slowly lowered her head down, knowing she couldn't do anything this time. Josh lifted her head so she could look at him.

"I've got things to do, so please don't do anything out of line. I really don't want to have to hurt you again." He said. Elena let out a sigh as Josh brought the rag closer.

"One thing..." She said. Josh stopped and nodded. "That thing you said about me and Chris back in the basement..." Elena couldn't help but wonder. "Did you mean that?" Elena noticed a slight hint of sentiment in his eyes.

"Every word El." He replied. He put the rag over her mouth. Elena didn't struggle as she knew it would be useless. She simply stared into his eyes as her conciousness faded away again.

 ** _jeez, i honestly didn't think i would get this excited for a story. i guess since this has to do with video games(which i love), it must be whole different ball game. anyway, keep reading to see what happens next!_**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

 ** _Chris' POV_**

Chris couldn't take it anymore. Not only did they have to leave Elena behind but they couldn't find Sam upstairs. He and Ashley went to find Sam and rescue Elena.

"Chris?" Ashley said timidly.

"What?" Chris said almost aggressively.

"Chris, I just wanted to say... what happened back there in the shed... I know how hard that was. Josh was your friend and Elena..."

"Ashley stop..."

"No, I want to say... I mean, thank you. Thank you for saving my life." Chris sighed at that. He wanted to save both of their lives but Josh ended up dead who knows what is happening to Elena.

"Sure Ash, sure. I mean, I'd do it again." He noticed she was still distressed. "Ash, you alright?"

"Yeah, I just... I know you and Josh were close Chris." She said.

"Let's just find Sam and Elena ok? That's what we're doing now." He said. He knew he sounded pissed or stressed but he couldn't help it. All he could think about was what that sick Psycho was doing to Elena. He hoped he wasn't doing anything horrible to her. If he ended up doing anything at all to her, he would beat the living shit out of him. His thoughts were inturrupted when the door to the cinema room slammed shut when they exited.

"What the heck?!" Ashley shouted. So many supernatural things started happening like doors closing by themselves, doors opening and Ashley claimed to see a ghost in the hallway but Chris didn't believe her. He was not a huge believer on ghosts and rhe supernatural.

The only place they haven't checked was the basement and it just got much creepier in there. There was a loud noise and Ashley crashed into a rocking horse.

"Whoa!" Chris yelled.

"Oh my God that scared me!" Ashley shouted holding her chest.

"You knocked into it right? You knocked into it?" Chris asked.

"I don't- I don't think so... I mean, I don't know!! How did everything get so freaky around here? Doors slamming and candles lighting up out of nowhere and that specter or whatever it was-" Ashley said.

"Ashley, I think you're kind of ignoring what'a really happening here-"

"Don't tell me you didn't see that translucent white figure just passing right by us?"

"We-we could be seeing things-"

"I'm not imagining things!"

"Yeah, well I saw things too! I saw what happened to Josh in the shed, you know! And that's what I'm worried about!" Chris let out a huff of breath as he held his head.

"Oh, Chris I know, I know." Ashley said trying to reassure him.

"You what I'm worried about? Okay?" Chris said. "I'm worried about Sam, I'm worried about Elena! If there's some maniac out there then she could be dead too! And who knows what the hell he's doing to Elena! She might be..." He trailed off. He did not want to go that far, not with her.

"Don't say that! Please, Chris." Ashley said. They wandered around a bit more. Ashley was still getting freaked out over a ghost that she claimed looked like Beth or Hannah, which kind of annoyed Chris. She even overreacted when he was looking at his phone for a second.

They interacted with a dollhouse, finding a key to open it. Once it opened, the dolls were all set up exactly where everyone was when they were doing the prank. Both Ashley and Chris were freaked out about this.

"This was setup by someone who was there." Chris said.

"Someone, or something that was watching us." Ashley said.

"Maybe it's a warning. I think someone...I think someone put this here to mess with us."

"No, it has to be the ghost, it's trying to tell us the maniac killed Hannah and Beth!" Chris balled up his fist.

"I think it's this bastard, and he's..he's just trying to fuck with our heads." He said.

"Why would he set this all up Chris?" Ashley asked.

"He's trying to tell us he's going to come after us all too." He replied. The two jumped back when the doll's head turned to side with it's eyes open. Ashley then found Hannah's diary and she read it aloud. It talked about Josh's mental issues and how they were going better. It even talked about the day they all were here last year and how excited Hannah was to see Mike. They continued on, finding more crrepy things along the way and they were almost seperated by a wall. After a while, Ashley started freaking out again.

"I don't think I can take any more of this." She said. Chris had to admit that hr's had enough too.

"Yeah I'm about at my limit here too." He said.

"All I wanted to do was forget last year ever happened." Ashley said.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what Hannah thought she was doing."

"Yeah well, you know how it is when you're crushing pretty hard on somebody." Chris looked at her weirdly.

"Great, so you're basically saying that we put a vulnerable friend in a terrible situation and essentially caused her to run away and never be heard of again?" He said almost defensively. Even though he wasn't part of the prank, he honestly wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that they pulled a humiliating prank on their friend or that Hannah kinda took it to extremes during the whole thing.

"Yeah well, it takes two to tango." Ashley said. Chris looked up at her in surprise.

"Sorry?" He asked.

"I mean, it was embarassing but, come on, she didn't have to run into the woods, half naked and upset. It's not our fault what happened." Ashley replied. Chris was almost surprised at her. Yes, maybe she overreacted he had to admit but they pulled a really nasty prank. How could someone not want to run away after something like that?

"That's pretty harsh Ash. She was really upset." Chris said almost irritated.

"I'm just saying maybe she kind of overreacted, you know?" Ashley said. Chris was about to say something but plank suddenly fell and hit him on the head.

"Jesus, what the fuck?!" He shouted.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?" Ashley said. Chris had enough.

"I hate this place! Let's go!" He said. The carried on their way, finding some fake newspapers, which was weird enough as it is. They reached a staircase that lead to underground. Ashley was reluctant to keep going but Chris convinced her, knowing they had to keep going to find Elena and Sam. After going for a while, Ashley stopped.

"Chris, I'm getting a really weird feeling from all this." She said.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I just... I can't shake the feeling that those fake newspapers have something to do with the guy who killed Josh."

"Like what? Like it's a... setup or something?"

"Yeah but, I mean, how? It's just... it almost makes sense but it just feels like we're missing something." After thinking for a little bit, they kept going but Chris couldn't help but wonder if what all they were finding had to do with that year. Everything seemed to point to it but something didn't add up. If the killer had killed Hannah and Beth, why was he setting all this up for them? Why does he seem to be going on about what happened that night? It didn't make sense to him.

They walked by a dead pig and a room with hooks and chains that was just so unsettling for them. They also found a picture of the whole group together. It seemed like it was some sort of hit list. He couldn't help but stare at the picture for a little bit, mostly looking at Elena. She seemed so happy in this picture. He hasn't seen her this happy in a long time. He hopes he will be able to see her like this again, if they find her. On their way, Ashley found a room with a projector in it. When she turned it on, it was the video they took during the prank.

"Uh, this is a little... this us a little uncomfortable, huh?" Chris said.

"I've never seen this video." Ashley said. She hadn't taken her eyes off it. "She's just so..." Chris looked over at her.

"So... what?" Ashley sighed.

"She's so excited... and alive." She finished.

"She has no idea." The video shows a shot of Ashley, who was doing her best to keep her laughter in.

"Oh jeez." She mumbled. Chris was surprised at this.

"Whoa I forgot you were such a willful participant." He said. Ashley silently scoffed.

"Yeah well, we all were." She said a little irritated.

"Yoh look like you were enjoying yourself." Chris said.

"I didn't know what was going to happen! It was a dumb prank, Chris, and maybe we shouldn't have done it, but it's not like I personally made her run into the woods!" Ashley said. Chris felt himself roll his eyes. Why can't Ashley just admit she had a hand in this, no matter what the outcome was?

"Kinda splitting hairs a little..." He said.

"Look, she chose to do that. It's not our fault she did that." Ashley replied. Chris was about to protest to that but a face appeared on the screen, screaming and scaring Ashley.

"Ahh! Oh ChrisChrisChrisChris!! What is going ON?!" She yelled.

"Ash, slow down, ok?" Chris tried to calm her down.

"I can't handle this - ghosts, and these videos, and everything just flying around-"

"Calm down. Listen to me for a second-"

"What? Calm down? Why should I calm down, Chris? I am freaking out right now!"

"This has got to be someone messing with us."

"What?"

"Think about it - ghosts don't hook up video cameras. They don't play games."

"The who would set this all up? Seriously, I'm asking."

"I don't know. Maybe the same person who tied you up and killed Josh." Ashley's expression softened at this.

"Oh... right." She said.

"The same person who might have Sam and Elena right now." He said. Chris felt a lump in his throat when he said Elena's name.

"Maybe you're right." Ashley said. Chris lowered his head.

"I wish I wasn't." He said to himself. With that, both of them left the room and kept going. The were met with a door that had blood smeared on it. They weren't sure whether it was Elena's or Sam's. Chris just hoped it was neithers. They managed to open the door with some help, thankfully finding nothing on the other side. They continued on, they found some double doors and went through, they thought they found Sam but it was just a dummy dressed in Sam's clothes.

"I don't... I don't get it." Ashley said.

"Shit, it's just a dummy." Chris said.

"Yeah, no, I can see that." Ashley said sarcasticly.

"Why is it dressed up like Sam?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"Why would someone dress uo a dummy like Sam?"

"Chris I don't know and I'm kinda freaking out!"

"Where the hell is Sam? Where's Elena?" Chris was freaking out. They haven't found anything about Elena and he was super worried. Suddenly, Chris was grabbed by his head and he breathed in a gas and after that, everything went black.

* * *

Chris woke up to find himself in a chair. He had no idea how but he didn't care when he saw Ashley right in front of him.

"Oh shit. Oh crap, Ash? Ash!" He then noticed that she had a black eye. "Aw, Jesus, what did he do to you?"

"I think... he hit me." She replied. Chris grew angry.

"Shit. I'm gonna murder his fucking face off!" It was then both of them noticed they were tied up.

"What is this?" Ashley asked.

"This is him" Chris replied. "This is the guy who killed Josh."

"No Chris... Oh my God,no! Oh God, Chris!"

"You murdering piece of shit! You monster! WHERE'S ELENA?!"

"Look around! We're gonna die Chris! I don't think I'm ready to die!"

"No one is going to die." Before either of them could say something else, a light to their side switched on, revealing Elena also tied to a chair but her mouth was taped up and she was unconsiouss.

"Oh my God, Elena!" Ashley shouted.

"Elena, wake up!" Chris shouted. He looked at her for any sign of arouse. He noticed she had a bruise on her cheek and what looked like a bruise around her neck and he could also see her knuckles were red and a little bloody. He then saw a flinch in her face and she rocked her head a little.

"Elena!" Chris shouted again. Elena groaned as she lifted her head up and opened her eyes. Chris let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh El, are you ok?" Ashley said. Elena looked over at them. Her eyes went wide and struggled in her chair. She mumbles something, assuming to be their names. Before anything else happened, saws from above them and in front of Elena started and slowly moved toward them.

"Oh God!"Chris yelled.

"AH! No! Help me Chris!" Ashley screamed. Elena struggled again in her chair and let out a muffled scream.

"Don't worry, I'll get y'all out of this! I won't let y'all die!" Chris said.

"Hello there my special little subjests" A voice boomed in.

"I'm so scared Chris!" Ashley said.

"D-don't be scared Ash." Chris said.

"Oh, you should be, Ash." The voice said. "Because here's the twist: Chris has made one fatal choice already today, and now he must make another." Ashley mumbled to herself in fear. "You can take that gun in front of you and either shoot Ashley, Elena, or you can shoot yourself. Whoever is left can live! The coice is yours." Chris took the gun and tried to shoot the saws, but it didn't work. The voice chuckled.

"Don't be so silly, Chris." It said. Chris stared at the gun for a second and then looked at the two girls. Ashley was already crying to herself. Elena was breathing heavingly, shifting her eyes between the saw in front of her and Chris. He turned the gun at himself, almost ready to shoot.

"Wait, stop, you can't do it Chris, it should be me. You chose to save me before, let me choose this time... Let me choose to save you." Ashley said.

"Oh fuck!" He said to himself.

"If I do one last thing in my life let me do this! Chris, please. Oh god... No! Oh god." Ashley started sobbing again. Chris took another glance at Elena, who was also looking at him intently. He noticed her eyes were glossy, almost ready to release her tears. She shook her head, as if she was pleading for him to reconsider. He was almost tempted to but he couldn't watch them die, he couldn't lose another friend.

"I'm sorry El." He said. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

 ** _ahhhhh snap!!! (0_0)_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It went dark after the gunshot sounded. Elena didn't know what happened but she kept replaying the scene in her head. Those last three words that he said before he pulled the trigger and the look on his face as he did it. Was Chris really dead? No, he couldn't be... he can't! Elena felt the tears dripping down her face in the darkness. She wanted to scream out but tape on her mouth prevented it.

She suddenly heard footsteps that sounded close but far, almost as if it was in another room. She heard a female and a male voice, which made her perk up a little, she knew exactly who they were. She then started hearing the dooring being banged on. It was then the lights turned on and Elena was surprised to see that the saws have stopped before they reached anybody and Chris was still alive! She also noticed Sam and Mike coming in from the corner of her eye. She almost felt like relaxing a little but then she saw him pass by, walking up to Chris and Ashley.

"No! No no no! GET AWAY!!" Ashley screamed. Chris then shot him 3 times, making Elena jump even though nothing happened.

"Oh Chris. Oh Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris." He said shaking his head and walking to the other side of them.

"What the fuck?" Chris said looking down at the gun.

"Oh, you've heard of blanks before. I mean really?" He said as if he was disapointed. He then took off his mask to reveal himself to be Josh. Elena looked down sadly since she already knew who it was.

"Josh?!" Chris said very surprised. Josh laughed at this. Sam, Mike and Ashley were all equally surprised and Sam and Mike mumbled his name.

"Oh, oh very good! Every one of you! Got my name! And after all you've been through! Good, good, good, good. I mean how does that feel?" Josh said. Sam and Mike came up and untied Chris and Ashley. Once Chris was untied, he immediately went over to Elena and untied her.

"Oh my God El, I'm so glad you're safe!" He said. Once her binds were off, he removed the tape from her mouth, silently gasping when he saw she had a cut on her lip and he saw some blood smeared underneath her nose, indicating she had a nosebleed. He also noticed she had fresh tear stains on her cheeks, which he quickly rubbed away. He traced over her bruise on her right cheek and looked down at what looked like a hand print across her neck. He turned and glared over at Josh.

"Right? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked? All those emotions that my sisters got to feel once one year ago! Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No no no! They're gone!" Josh said.

"I don't know if you noticed this Josh, but none of us are laughing." Mike said grimly.

"Oh come, come, come, come, come. Why the long faces? Come on! It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did, I mean, every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat! I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle!" Josh said. He seemed so proud at what he did.

"Ah, did that just happen?" Ashley exclaimed.

"I mean, no detail too small! No opportunity missed! It was such a delight to play the puppet master to all of your Pavlovian panic!" Josh continued. "And all that gore? I mean, gore, there was gore galore!!! Fake bodies... I mean, God that shit was expensive! And no retakes! Nope, nope, nope, only double takes! You should have seen your faces. Hook, line and sinker, for every little stinker!"

"Josh, why are you doing this?" Sam asked.

"Don't even ask this squirrelly little runt. He's got no clue. He's out of his fucking tree." Mike said.

"Well he's definitely off his meds." Chris said.

"Aw come on you guys. Revenge is the best medicine!" Josh exclaimed.

"You're done." Mike said. He sounded almost angry. Elena finally got up from her chair, groaning in the process from the pain.

"Mike, he's sick-" She tried to say.

"What? Come on, you guys are all gling to thank me when you guys become internet sensations!" Josh said cutting her off.

"Wait, what?" Chris said.

"Oh you better believe this little puppy is going viral ladies and germs. I mean we got unrequited love. We got... we got blood! I don't think there's enough hard drives in China to count all the view we're gonna get, you guys." Josh said.

"What are you talking about you ass hat?" Mike said, clearly furious. "Jessica is FUCKING DEAD!" Elena gasped at this, clasping her hands over her mouth even though it hurt her cut.

"What?" Josh said surprised.

"Did you hear me?!" Mike yelled angrily. "Jessica is dead, and YOU ARE GONNA PAY YOU DICK!" Mike hit Josh on the head with the gun, knocking him out cold. Elena wanted to run over but she stumbled, grabbing her side in the process.

"El!" Ashley yelled as she ran to her side. Chris rushed over and helped her up.

"Are you ok?" He asked. Elena nodded.

"Yeah he just... was a little hard on me." She said. Chris again glared at Josh, who was now being tied up by Mike.

"Hey Chris, wanna help me take this fucker outside?" He asked. Chris looked down at Elena. He didn't want to leave her right now but he really wanted Josh to pay for this. The prank they did last year might have been cruel and humiliating but this was just purely insane. How could he hurt his friends? How could he hurt Elena? She wanted nothing to do with the prank! He couldn't let Josh slide, not this time. Elena looked up at him. He looked really pissed off.

"I'll be back El." He said in a grim voice. Elena wanted to stop him but he left before he could say anything. She watched sadly as he and Mike dragged Josh out of the room.

* * *

 ** _Chris' POV_**

Josh had woken up by the time they had bound him to the shed outside.

"Guys! Guys come on... seriously, this is crazy, you know?" He said.

"Shut up." Mike said. Chris was so pissed at the fact that he punched Ashley and did so much worse to Elena.

"Why? Why did you do all that to Ashley Elena?! Why?!" He said as he punched Josh in the face.

"What are you talking about?" Josh said.

"You punched Ashley! And look what you did to Elena, you piece of shit!" Chris said angrily.

I got so mad. And Elena... she wouldn't cooperate. I had to do something to keep her quiet." Josh said.

"You don't hut a girl. You just don't. And I think you went overboard. Have you seen what you did to her?"

"Dude... dude, Chris... bro, I-"

"I'm not your bro!" As they finished tying him, Josh kept insisting that whatever happened to Jessica was not his doing but neither of them believed him. Why would they, after all the shit he put them through?

"I didn't do it, Michael please! Just listen to me, man! I did not hurt Jessica-" He tried to say but Chris had enough.

"You know what man? You need to shut up." He said.

"Chris, hey, come on Cochise. We're partners." Josh said.

"Stop! Don't say that."

"Oh, fine. Be a dick! You only see what you wanna see! You're blind!"

"Stop talking." Mike said breaking it up.

"You are- argh!" Josh groaned. "It's not my fault you suckers can't take a joke."

"Oh, oh wait, did I hurt you?" Mike said sarcasticly. " Did you feel a little... a little bit of pain? Right now? I am SO... SO SORRY." Josh let out a scream.

"Stop it!" He yelled. Chris felt a twinge of sympathy for Josh. He may have done some horrible things... but he was still his friend. "Stop, Michael, I'm sorry man. I can't tell how sorry I am that something happened to Jessica but I swear, I swear to you that I have no idea what happened to her." Chris couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"Shit Mike, this... I dunno, someting feels wrong here man." He said. Mike scoffed.

"Are you joking?" He said.

"I-I'm just having a really hard time figuring out he would, like, do anything to hur Jess-" Chris didn't finish when Mike cut him off.

"I saw what he did to her." He said with a hint of saddness. "With my own eyes. This..." He pointed at the blood on his shirt. "This is her blood." Mike took one more time to make sure the rope was tight, barely leaving him any room to wiggle around. Hearing Josh complain and rant about it was hard enough to listen to.

"Hey Chris..." Josh said. "If you had the choice to save only one of those girls, who would it be?" Chris stared at him, not giving him an answer. "If you like one of them, don't lead the other one on. It will only make their heartbreak even more painful."

"Why are you saying this?" Chris asked him "What do you mean?" Josh gave him a look that for once looked sincere.

"I'm just saying that you should consult your feelings quickly." He said. "You're going to have to make a choice sooner or later." Chris looked away from him. What does he know about this? Why should he even listen to him?

"Hey Mike. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike!" Josh said.

"What?" Mike replied.

"What happened with Jess, Mike?" Josh asked. Mike glared at him.

"You know what happened." He said.

"No, no I don't." Josh said. "I got a problem Mike. I don't remember killing Jess."

"Christ."

"I mean, like, I feel like I would remember killing her, you know? She's so soft... and she's probably got like a really tight bod."

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Mike pointed the gun at Josh but Chris quickly hit the gun out his hands. "Seriously?"

"Wh-what?" Chris stuttered.

"Did you think I was gonna shoot him?" Mike asked.

"I-I dunno..."

"Come on, Chris, you know me better than that."

"Yeah Chris. You know me better than that." Josh repeated. The two did their best to ignore him.

"Ah... yeah. Well, just, next time give me the heads up, alright?" Chris said.

"Oh, you poor little piggies, can't even get their good cop bad cop routine to work. Leave to the pros, bros." Josh taunted.

"Why don't you head back to thelodge and make sure everyone's alright. I'll stay here with this lunatic until morning." Mike said to Chris.

"Oooh, sleepover!" Josh exclaimed. "C-can we order pizza?"

"You sure you're ok?" Chris asked. Mike nodded.

"They'll want to know everything's fine back there." He said. Chris nodded in agreement.

"You're right. See you in the morning." With that, Chris left for the lodge.

* * *

 ** _Elena's POV_**

As Ashley, Elena and Sam waited for the boys to return, Sam helped Elena with her injuries. It turned out Josh was a little too hard on her. She had a nasty cut on her right side that although it was bandaged, apparently not well enough since the bandage was soaked with blood.

"My God, El, why did he do this?" Sam asked as she patched it up with more bandages. Elena let out a sigh.

"He tried to keep my quiet. He didn't want me to ruin his..." She trailed off at that.

"He seriously went overboard." Sam said.

"But why you?" Ashley said. "You didn't take part in the prank. Why did he do all this to you?"

"He is sick, ok?" Elena said. "He needs help."

"Well, he can't get it from us." Sam said in a somber tone. "He made his choice." She finally finished wrapping the bandage around her as securely as she could.

"Thanks Sam." Elena said. Sam gave her smile in response. Right then, the door opened and they turned to see Chris coming in.

"You're back!" Ashley exclaimed. Chris simply nodded at her. He turned to Elena, who still had her shirt lifted, revealing the bandages. She quickly pulled it down but he already saw it.

"Are you alright, El?" He asked. Elena nodded her head.

"I'm fine. It's just a cut." She said. Chris held his head as he sat down.

"Ugh, what the fuck?" He said.

"Where's Josh?" Elena asked.

"We tied him up to the shed. Mike decided to stay with him." He replied.

"My God, what was he thinking?" Ashley said. Elena wasn't sure what she felt about this. She wasn't sure if she was angry with Josh doing all this or a little understanding with the fact that these guys played a cruel prank on Hannah. She rubbed her head and groaned in frustration.

Chris looked over at her. The first thing his eyes fell on was he bruise across her neck, which made his anger boil again. He looked away from her, getting confused at why he felt so angry at this. He seems more angry at this than with what he did with Ashley. Why? He liked Ashley... right? He suddenly found himself confused even more. He was sure that he felt something for Ashley, he had for two years! If that's the case, then why is he feeling this way? Why was he suddenly more concerned for Elena's well being than Ashley's? Did something change? Did he... feel something for Elena too? His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when an ear-piercing scream rang through the whole lodge.

"What the hell was that?!" Elena exclaimed.

 ** _well, that was intense. also, seems the love triangle is brewing, finally! ive been waiting for this moment and im even more excited for this story! thx again for read and continue to see what else happens*_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

They heard someone frantically banging on the door.

"Let me in! Let me IN!!!" She screamed. Elena gasped.

"Is that-" Ashley started.

"It's Em!" Sam exclaimed.

"Let her in, quick!" Chris said. They all scrambled to the door. Once they opened it, Emily falls inside but she doesn't care.

"Shut the door! Oh my God, shut the door!!!" She screamed. As Ashley and Sam drag Emily in, Chris and Elena both closed the door and made their way to the Great Room.

"Em, are you alright?" Elena asked.

"I didn't think that I'd make it." She mumbled.

"You were screaming bloody murder." Chris said.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked.

"You look totally wiped." Ashley added. Emily took in a breath.

"There was something..." She started.

"Where's Matt?" Ashley asked.

"Come sit down." Sam said. They all walked over to sit down.

"Something's out there..." She mumbled again. "A monster... it's a monster!"

"Wait!" Chris said. He took one more look at her. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"I'm fine, I don't feel anything, I just need to calm down." She said breathing heavingly. "It was moving so damn fast..."

"What?" Elena asked.

"I just had to get away."

"Away from what?" Sam asked.

"Th-there was this thing, whatever it was-" She tried to explain.

"Em, Em, you can relax." Sam said. "Josh was messing with us, but we-"

"You're not listening to me!" Emily said. Elena put a hand on her shoulder.

"Em, can you tell us exactly what happened?" She asked. Emily slowly nodded.

"I am trying to tell you. We were climbing up the tower and it fell. The whole tower just fell! Right into the mines." She explained.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what mines?" Chris asked.

"There are these mine shafts all over, running under everything, when the tower fell we ended up down there." Emily replied.

"I don't understand, the tower fell?" Ashley asked.

"How did it fall?" Sam asked.

"Guys stop." Elena said. "Let her continue." They all turned to her again. She looked a little distressed right now.

"I-I was walking down there, in the mines, and it was dark and I found this pile and there was Beth's head!" She said. Elena clasped her hands at her mouth, trying to keep herself together in the shock.

"Wait, what?!" Chris exclaimed.

"Beth's head. I found it." She repeated.

"Oh my God!" Ashley said grabbing her head.

"What the fuck?" Chris mumbled.

"Are you serious?!" Sam asked her.

"YES, I'm serious!" Emily insisted. Elena felt more tears welling up her eyes. She felt herself step back into somebody but she wasn't paying attention. She was too in shock to care. Chris was the one she bumped into but he didn't resist her. He instead held onto her for her own good and for support.

"I think they fell down there." She continued.

"Jesus Christ." Chris mumbled.

"But the worst part is I don't think Hannah died, like from the fall, not right away."

"What? What do you mean?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know. I feel like she was down there, like, starving to death weeks... when were all up here looking for her. We had no idea!"

"Jesus, that's horrible." Chris mumbled again.

"Listen, in-in the tower there was a radio and I-I got through to someone but that was right when the tower collapsed." Emily said.

"You think someone will come?" Ashley asked. Before she could answer, Mike entered the room and sees Emily.

"Em! You made it!" He exclaimed.

"Oh God, Mike." She said.

"Yeah, yeah, barely." Chris commented.

"What about Matt?" Mike asked.

"We're trying to figure that out." Ashley said.

"And there was this 'monster' that was chasing her." Chris said.

"She's all messed up guys. Emily? Hey Em." Mike said trying to get her attention. Just then, a loud bang was heard at the back of the lodge.

"Whoa." Chris said.

"Who the fuck can that be?" Mike asked.

"Josh?" Ashley said.

"Jess?" Chris said.

"It's not Jess." Mike denied.

"Sorry man." Chris apologized.

"Then who is it?" Elena asked.

"I don't know." Mike said. "We should go check it out." Chris released Elena.

"I got your back." He said. Mike nodded at him and both made their way to the door. When they got there, they both motions for the gun.

"Uh, let me have the pistol. 'Cause you can take whoever it is through sheer good looks. And muscle and all that... just, I should have the pistol." Chris was more nervous than he should be.

"Well, when you put it that way. Alright, here." Mike handed Chris the pistol. "Don't shoot yourself in the foot." Chris scoffed.

"Funny. You should get your own show." He joked. Mike slowly starts to open the door, but then a stranger kicks it open, knocking him down.

"Ah shit! Chris, shoot him man!" Mike yelled.

"H-hey! Freeze!" Chris yelled. He tried to shoot the guy but he took the gun from his hands and threw it to the ground. He was about to grab it but the stranger just runs to him and holds his hand up to him.

"Ok. Everybody just calm down." He said. Mike and Chris backed away from him and walked to the girls. Chris instinctly put his arms in front of Elena and Ashley for caution.

"Now just move over there. Go on, move!" He told them. "Let me say what I came to say. I'm here to tell you what you're up against being back on this mountain. You should never have returned. I don't know why you did after what happened last year." He walked over and dropped his bag next to the fireplace.

"You mean with Hannah and Beth?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah." The stranger said. "How could you know without being involved-"

"Or responsible?" Sam said. Elena unknowingly grabbed Chris' hand. He looked down at it weirdly but he didn't make a fuss. He wanted to hear what this guy was talking about.

"You hold on to your horses. I don't take kindly to you kids coming up here to my mountain-" The stranger started.

"Your mountain? I'm sure the Washingtons would be very surprised to hear that." Mike said.

"Hehheh. Well, this mountain don't belong to me, it's true. But it don't belong to the Washingtons. This mountain belongs to the Wendigo." The stranger said.

"Who?" Elena asked.

"What's he talking about?" Sam mumbled.

"What the hell's a Wendigo?" Mike asked.

"Let's hear him out." Sam said.

"Not like we have a choice." Mike said.

"Now I'm only going to tell you this once. It doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not. I got reasons I want to... get it off my chest..." The stranger said.

"See? I told you! He's guilty as shit! Guilty of something!" Mike said.

"Shut up Mike!" Elena said. It was then Elena must've noticed she was holding Chris' hand because she let it go. Chris let out a small smile. That felt a little good to him while it lasted.

"There is a curse." The stranger started. "That dwells in these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism in these woods the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed."

"Oh crap." Mike mumbled.

"You're going to need to find somewhere safe." The stranger said.

"The basement might be ok." Sam said.

"Ok. Get down there, now. All of you and wait." He said.

"What? Why? For how long?" Sam asked.

"Until dawn." Emily said.

"Guys..." Mike said. He was looking down at the ground. "I ran off and left Josh when I heard screaming." Elena's eyes went wide.

"Oh no." She mumbled.

"Where did you leave him?" The stranger asked.

"In the shed." Mike replied.

"Your friend will already be dead." The stranger said.

"No... no he can't be. We were just with him!" Chris said.

"A lot can happen quickly on this mountain."

"No, I'm gonna go get him." Elena quickly looked at him.

"What? What the hell are you thinking?" She said.

"You can't go out there Chris!" Ashley exclaimed.

"I'm supposed to be his best friend and I let him down." He said.

"Chris, you didn't do anything wrong." Elena said. "It's not your fault."

"She's right. He's the one that let you down, Chris. He let us all down." Ashley said.

"I don't care. I'm going to get him." Chris insisted. Elena shook her head and held it.

"Nononono." She said very worryingly. Chris felt his heart twinge seeing her like this.

"Then I'll go with you." The stranger said.

"I don't need your help." Chris said.

"Going alone is suicide." The stranger said. Chris groaned silently but nodded his head.

"Fine." He said. The man turned to the others.

"The rest of you get down to the basement. Be safe. Don't go outside again until we're back." He said. He and Chris then walked over to the door. While the others went over to the basement, Ashley and Elena looked over to Chris and the stranger conversing.

"I can't leave him." Ashley said.

"I know. Me either." Elena said. Ashley looked over at Elena. She noticed the way she looked at Chris was... almost different than usual. She never noticed how she looked at him but she could see it clear as day right now. She let out a sharp breath, which made Elena look over at her.

"Are you ok?" She asked. Ashley couldn't think for a moment. She looked away after she finally gathered her thoughts.

"It's nothing." She said. She turned on her heals and walked away from Elena. Elena looked at her weirdly. What the hell just happened? She looked back to see Chris and the stranger ready to leave. She quickly walked over to Chris and grabbed his hand.

"Hey..." She said. Chris looked down at her. He saw there was fear in her eyes but a different kind. It wasn't for her, it was for him. He felt her gently squeeze his hand.

"Please come back saftly." She said. Chris stared at her eyes a little longer. Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the dimly lit room. Chris held her hand up to his mouth, placed a gentle kiss on it and squeezed it back.

"I will." He said. With that, Chris and the stranger left the lodge as Elena quickly closed the door behind them.

* * *

 ** _Chris' POV_**

While they walked to the shed, Chris kept thinking back at that moment. He wasn't sure what happened. He's never done anything close to a kiss, not even to Ashley. Even if it was only on her hand, he felt like it meant more. And her eyes... he's never noticed them before. Have they always been that blue and that pretty?

"She's quite a gal, isn't she?" The stranger said, breaking Chris' thoughts. It took him a second to process what he said.

"Yeah... I guess she is." He said. The stranger chuckled.

"Oh you teenagers. When y'all in love, none of you seem to even see it." He said.

"Love?" Chris said in surprise. "Who said I loved her?"

"Don't try to deny it, kid. I could see in your face. And I can also tell that was your first kiss." The stranger said. "Which I gotta admit, that was pretty sincere. Much better than the usual kiss. Good on you, kid." Chris had enough.

"So tell me. You're the expert on these 'things.' What's... uh... what's a guy gotta know?" He said, trying to change the subject. The stranger chuckled before he spoke.

"You just be careful. You follow my lead." He said.

"So... how many times to I have to shoot it with this shotgun before it's dead?"

"Well, you'd be shooting a long time."

"You mean this thing won't even kill it?"

"No, but it'll slow it down."

"Well, how do you kill it?"

"They don't like fire."

"I don't like fire..."

"They fear it, and it can kill them if you have to... see their skin is like... it's like tough armor unless you burn it off first." Chris made a face of disgust.

"That's gross." He said. "What are these things like? I mean, are they just crazy unpredictable or can you figure out what they're gonna do?"

"Well, they adhere to some patterns, like any animal... or human." The stranger replied.

"Wh-you mean, like how? Like they've got schedules?"

"Well, they only hunt at night."

"Oh. Why?"

"I didn't ask." Chris felt himself clutch at the shotgun he was holding a little tighter. He took in a deep breath.

"Any, uh, pro Wendigo tips? Like if I rub garlic all over me they won't be able to smell me or something?" Chris said.

"They'll still smell you." The stranger replied. Chris wasn't sure if he was joking along with him.

"Anything like that?" Chris asked more serious.

"They can't see you if you're standing still. It's like toads. Sight is based on changes of movement in their field of vision." The stranger replied.

"So if I don't move, I'm basically invisible."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't recommend testing it out... unless you have no other choice."

"If these things... Wendigos... are or were human do they still have some aspect of humanity in them?"

"Well, they retain certain things."

"I mean, is it really right to kill them?Maybe they can be cured or-"

"They surrender human rights the moment they eat one another. There's no cure. There's no redemption."

"I- I mean if they're still human... I don't know if it's right to hurt them."

"When you're staring one in the face... it's them, or you. Feel free to take the high route, you won't be on it for long." They finally reached the shed but they found Josh's bonds were broken and he was gone.

"Oh no... Dammit! What happened? He's gone! We're too late!" Chris said.

"Shh! Quiet! We gotta go, right now." The stranger said.

"We gotta find Josh. He could still be out there!" Chris said.

"Ha! First, the Wendigo, he'll render you immobile. And then he strips the skin of your entire body, piece by piece. And then he keeps you alive and aware and feasts on your organs, one piece at a time." The stranger explained. It didn't take long for that to convince Chris.

"So, the lodge, then." He said.

"Let's go now. It might still be near!" The stranger said. They both leave the shed to go back but the stranger suddenly stops.

"Wait!" He said. Chris instantly froze. "Don't. Move." Chris heard some rustling that made him swallow and his heart pound faster.

"RUN! GO NOW! NOW!" The stranger yelled. A Wendigo suddenly jumps out at them.

"HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK?!" Chris yelled. The stranger shot his flamethrower, making the Wendigo back up a little.

"BACK! BACK!" He shouted.

"God damn-" Chris exclaimed.

"We're right out in the open. We gotta get out of here!" The stranger said. Before they could move, the Wendigo lunges at the stranger and sliced his neck, decapitating it from his body.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Chris exclaimed. Chris wantes to scream but he realized the situation he was in. The Wendigo lunged right at him, buy Chris quickly shot him down. Remembering what the stranger said, he quickly started running back to the lodge. He was able to get through the first few times but he landed too hard on his foot when he jumped off a ledge. Gritting his teeth, he kept running, doing his best to ignore the pain. He had to shoot the Wendigo again before he reached the lodge door.

"Oh thank God!" He exhaled. He saw Elena running up to the door. "Please let me in, quick!" Elena quickly opened the door and let him in.

"Chris!" Elena exclaimed holding him up for support. "Oh my God, what happened?"

"We gotta go. That thing was like right behind me-" They both were startled when the Wendigo crashed into the door. Elena helped Chris walk as they made their way to the basement.

"Where's that guy? Where's Josh?" She asked. Chris didn't answer her, instead shaking his head and giving her a sad expression. Elena looked away from him as she had an idea of what he meant.

"I can't believe this shit." She said to herself.

 ** _looks like we got our first real Elena/Chris moment!_** **_and it seems like Ashley might not like this! (0_0) keep reading to find out what happens!_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Elena and Chris stumbled into the basement where everyone else was waiting.

"Oh my God guys! Thank God!" Emily exclaimed.

"What took you so long?" Sam asked.

"It's not so good up there now." Chris said.

"Understatement of the night." Mike said.

"Chris, where's the flamethrower guy?" Sam asked. Chris' face went a little pale.

"Ah yeah, he uh..." He tried to say something but he didn't finish.

"He didn't make it?"Ashley said.

"Oh no!" Emily said.

"What happened?" Elena asked.

"That thing, it... it tore him apart!" He said. "Right in front of me!"

"Oh God..." Sam mumbled. Elena walked over to the table and helped Chris there.

"Are you going to be ok?" She asked. Chris still looked dazed but he nodded his head.

"Uh, yeah. I just need a little bit." He said. Elena nodded and was about to turn to the group but she felt Chris hold her hand. He was squeezing it really hard.

"Please don't go." He said quietly. Elena had never seen Chris like this. He was always smiling or laughing since he always was a jokester but he looked beyond scared right now. Elena walked back and sat down with him. His grip on her hand hasn't loosened. She squeezed back for reassurance.

"It'll be ok Chris." She quietly said to him. Ashley looked over at them. She saw how they were holding hands and sitting together. She felt a sting of jealousy hit her there. She looked away in slight anger. How come Chris never did anything like that with her? And since when Chris start feeling for Elena? When did this even start? She shook her head when she realized what she was thinking. She looked over at Mike, Sam and Emily as they were talking and looking over the stranger's things, trying to figure out a way to get out safely. It was then she noticed Emily had an injury on her shoulder.

"Em, what is that?" She asked as she reached for it.

"Huh?" Emily said. Ashley started to panic when she saw it was a bite mark.

"What _is_ that?!" She said. Emily backed away from her and covered the bite.

"Ash..." She tried to explain but she was at loss with words at the moment.

"Em... oh my God oh my God oh my God! Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Ashley immediately started imagining the worst already. Elena felt her eyes widen.

"It's nothing, it bit me and-"

"It bit you?" Ashley interrupted. "What bit you?"

"The uh... the Wendigo." Emily said. Elena unknowingly squeezed Chris' hand a little.

"It's nothing, really. It's not a big deal." Emily said.

"Shit." Michael mumbled.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, really. It's not that bad." Mike stepped toward Emily slowly.

"Em... if that thing bit you..." He said in a monotone voice.

""I know what you're thinking and I'm fine." Emily insisted.

"Are you?"

"Yes!"

"Emily, at least let us check it out." Sam said.

"Emily, if the Wendigo bit you... you could turn into one of those things." Mike said. Elena scoffed.

"Mike, that's ridiculous! We don't know that could happen!" She said.

"He said it was from _eating_ each other, remember he said that!" Ashley said already freaking out.

"Wait is that how it worked?" Sam asked.

"Yes! It happens if it bit you, you're gonna turn into one and then you're gonna turn on us oh my God oh my God _oh my God!"_ Ashley was on the verge of crying.

"You can't be down here with us." Mike said. Elena looked surprised at him.

"What?!" Emily said.

"Mike!" Sam exclaimed.

"You gotta go."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"You're putting us _all_ in danger!"

"Like hell I am!"

"Emily you can't stay here!"

"Mike, just cool your head okay? We don't know if it works like that. Maybe it's just a bite." Sam said. Elena felt Chris let go of her hand.

"I've seen what these fuckers can do." He said in a grim voice. "I don't want to see it again." Elena at first was appalled but she noticed he wasn't looking up at them. He may have said this but she knew that was the lasy thing he wanted. All he wanted was for everyone to be safe.

"What is this?" Emily said. "Guys? What are you doing?"

"Door's right here. I am letting you do this voluntarily." Mike said.

"Oh no you're just making yourself feel better about sending me to my death since you know there's a Wendigo out there rip me to pieces like it did with-"

"Oh my God, will you just GO! Go, get OUT OF HERE!" Ashley screamed. Mike suddenly grabbed the gun and pointed it at Emily, making Elena jump off the table.

"Mike!" She yelled. Emily backed up on the table.

"Ok!" She said. Sam walked up to them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mike... calm down!" She said.

"You're going to shoot me? Mike...me?" Emily said.

"This is the safe room, Em!"He said.

"Please!" Emily begged.

"It's not safe as long as you're in it... not for us."

"No. Do-don't do this!"

"I'm really sorry." Mike cocked that gun and at the moment, Elena jumped in front of the gun.

"El!" Ashley screamed.

"El, what are you doing?!" Sam said. Elena simply stared at Mike straight in the eyes.

"Elena, move." He said. Elena shook her head.

"El, get out of the way!" Chris yelled. Mike shook in his stance.

"I don't want to shoot you Elena. Please, move!" Mike said. Elena felt tears well up in her eyes.

"We don't know what will happen." She said. "You shouldn't have to shoot her." She felt a tear escape her eye. "If you want to, you'll have to kill me first."

"Oh my God, El, stop it!" Ashley screamed. Elena saw Mike was shaking even more and saw his face was filled with stress. He let out a groan as put the gun down.

"Fuck... I can't do this!" He said. Elena let out the breath she was holding.

"You did the right thing." Sam said.

"I hope you did." Ashley said.

"Maybe... for now." Mike said. "Shit... fuck fuck. Keep an eye on her. If you see anything weird... you guys know what to do."

"Yeah." Ashley mumbled.

"No one leave, ok? It's not safe out there. I'll be back soon." With that, Mike left the basement, leaving everyone in a daze. Elena felt her legs give away as she collapsed on the ground.

"El!" Sam said as she ran up to her but she put her hand up.

"Don't!" She said. "Don't touch me." Sam backed away from her slowly. Elena breathed heavingly, trying to calm herself down. She honestly couldn't believe she just did that. She didn't know what happened, all she knew was she couldn't let anyone else die. They already lost Jessica, Josh, and who knows what the hell happened to Matt. She felt her fists ball up as she felt more tears coming. She didn't want to cry, there was no reason to cry. She quickly blinked them away as best as she could even though she felt one or two escape.

Chris wanted to go over to her and hug her or do anything to comfort her. It freaked the hell out of him when she jumped in front of the gun and he thanked God that Mike wasn't stupid enough to shoot her. Seeing her cry, even though it only a little, made his heart feel like it was being squeezed to dust. He wanted to walk over to her but seeing how she immediately rejected Sam probably means she would do the same.

"Oh..." He heard Ashley say. "Oh no no no no no." Chris looked over at her. She was reading a book, probably from the stranger. She must've found something interesting.

"What? What is it? What does it say?"Sam said walking up to her. It took Ashley a little bit to answer.

"It says that..." She started off a little nervous. "Well, the bites... if it bites you it'z not infectious. It doesn't do anything." She said. Chris didn't know what to think. They were all overreacting and Elena almost got killed because of it. He looked over at her. She was still looking down at the floor but he expression changed. She looked almost surprised at that.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Emily said getting up from the table.

"Em, it says you'll be ok." Ashley replied.

"It says what?" Emily asked.

"You're going to be fine." Sam replied.

"Fine?! Mike almost shot me, he almost shot Elena! Is that fine?!" Emily said walking up to the girls.

"He didn't shoot you-" Sam said trying to calm Emily.

"And this bitch almost let him!" Emily said angrily as she walked right up to Ashley.

"Hey! That's not fair! She was scared." Sam tried to reason.

"I'm the one who's scared." Emily said.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry Emily. I didn't know what was going to happen, none of us knew." Ashley tried to defend but Emily was having none of it as she shook her head and stepped back.

"There's- there's no excuse! There's no excuse for this!" She yelled. "It's bad enough Mike almost shot me but he could've shot Elena too! Can't you see that?!" She turned away from Ashley. Ashley walked up to her.

"Please, Emily, please just try to understand-"

"Understand the palm of my hand, bitch!" Emily turned right around and slapped Ashley right in the face. The sound of the slap made Elena jump a little.

"I'm sorry." Ashley said as she got up from the floor and walked away. "I'm so so so so sorry." There was a short silence between at that point. Elena wasn't sure what to think at the moment. Her mind kept going back to being in front of the gun. She's not sure whether she felt scared or stupid for doing that.

"Shit." She heard Sam say. She finally had the strength to look up. She was reading the book that the stranger had.

"Shit, shit, shit!" She looked uneasy and worried. "We gotta get to Mike. Like now!" Sam, Ashley and Emily all follwed her out. Elena stood with a little bit of difficulty. For some reason she felt like her energy has been drained. She hunched her legs for a minute.

"You ok El?" She heard. She looked behind her to see Chris standing there. She looked down at his leg before she answered.

"What about you?" She asked. "How's the leg?" Chris shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." He said. "But are you ok?" Elena crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"I just..." She honestly didn't know what to say. Her mind was all over the place, she wasn't sure what to think. She felt Chris put his arm around her.

"Hey, it's ok. You just need some time." He said. She felt him rub her shoulder. "Just don't ever do something like that again." She looked up at him. He had a small smile on his face, which made her smile back.

"Come on, we got to go." He said. He released her as both of them walked out of the basement to join the others.

 ** _well, that was a bit intense, doncha think? hope you liked it!*_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

They caught up with the others shortly but with a little bit of difficulty. Chris' leg caused him to be slower than the others. Elena stayed with him so he didn't fall behind. They got about halfway when Chris finally gave in.

"Hey, uh..." He said panting. Everyone turned to look at him. "I'm kinda gimping out here, guys. I think maybe you should go on without me." Elena wasn't sure about this. With the Wendigos so close, it might not be good to seperate but he looked very tired.

"Are you sure, Chris?" She asked. He nodded and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go on. I-I can't keep up with you macho ladies." He joked.

"No, we can't leave you behind!" Ashley said. "Not with those things around. They could kill you, Chris."

"I just need a breather, Ash." Chris said. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Ashley shook her head.

"No, I won't leave you!" She said.

"Ash, we don't have time for this. We need to get to Mike now!" Sam said. Ashley scoffed softly. She was about to protest but Elena walked up to her.

"It's ok Ash. I can stay with him too." She said. "I'll make sure he makes it through." Ashley shook her head some more.

"Hurry up already!" Emily said. Ashley looked back at them for a moment and then back at Elena. She hugged her tightly, which took Elena by surprise.

"You both better come back, ok?" She said. Elena hugged her back.

"I promise." She said. They broke from the hug and Ashley joined Sam and Emily on their way. Elena walked over to Chris, who was sitting down against the wall and sat down with him.

"Thanks for staying." He said. "I can't face those things again." Elena heaved a sigh and reached for Chris' hand.

"I'm sorry Chris. You shouldn't have faced those things alone." She said. Chris heaved a heavy sigh.

"Those things..." He said. Elena looked up at him. "They're worse than anything I've ever seen. It's like a horror movie but..." She felt him clutch her hand. "They're real." Elena wanted to comfort Chris more. He was deeply disturbed by this and she felt useless for not doing more. She felt her heart beat inside her chest when she leaned on his shoulder. She didn't know what else to do but she felt this was ok. She's gotten so much closer with Chris during this time, she honestly thought that maybe something has changed between them. The fact that Chris wasn't telling her to get off must've meant something too.

"I honestly don't know what to say." She said. "I haven't dealt with them so I don't know, but they did look fucking creepy." She felt him clutch her hand tighter, which made her a little surprised.

"I hope you never have to." He said a little softly. She started feeling a little hot and she felt heart beat faster and faster. Why has he been acting this way? He's been so much sincere with her, almost as if... could he? Her mind then went to when he kissed her hand at the lodge. He's never done anything like that, not even with Ashley. Could he really have feelings for her? Chris then shifted in his sitting position which Elena moved her head for.

"I think I'm good. We should get going now." He said. Elena nodded and stood up. She helped Chris up and they both walked off. They came to a locked door when they found a sewer hatch with a mark to it. It must've been left by one of gang. They descended down the hole and kept going. Elena had to keep at Chris' pace because of his leg but she didn't conplain. They got to two tunnels when they heard a scream down one of them.

"What was that?" Elena exclaimed. Chris stepped up to the ledge.

"Hello? Who's there?" He yelled. They heard nothing. "Wanna go down there?" Elena looked over at him.

"I don't know. What do you think that was?" She asked. Chris gave her a somewhat worried look.

"It sounded like Jess." He said. Elena thought her eyes were going to fall out of her sockets with how wide they were.

"What?" She said. "That's impossible. Mike said she was dead!" She looked down at the ledge. "It can't be."

"But what if it is?" Chris said. Elena looked at him again. "She sounded like she was in trouble. Don't you think we should help her?" Elena wasn't sure. Mike said she was dead and he had blood all over himself, which she assumed to be hers. She felt herself shake her head.

"I can't." She said backing away from the ledge. "We have to get back with the others and remember what Ashley said?" Chris gave her a confused look. "In the guy's book, it said that the Wendigos can imitate noises to get their prey. What if that's what it is?" Elena held her head as she groaned. Chris had never seen her this distressed. She looked so confused and scared but what else could he expect? After what happened back in the basement, he was sure she was almost loosing her mind.

"Ok, I get what you're saying, but I need to see to be sure." He said. Elena shook her head some more.

"No, Chris, please. You left us once and look what could've happened. You could've been killed by those things! Do you know how hard that would've been on us, on Ashley, on ME?!" She was practically yelling at this point, clearly worried. Chris reached over and touched her shoulder.

"Calm down, El. It's ok." He said. Elena took in a deep breath and shook her head again.

"No, it's not." She said. She took in another breath and started fidgeting with her hands. Chris took his hand off and looked at her confused.

"What's wrong?" He said. "Look, if you don't want me to go, I won't. It's as simple as that."

"It's not that." She said. She closed her eyes before she looked straight at him. "I need to tell you something." She took in another deep breath. Chris felt his heart pounding against his chest and he started feeling hot. He had a pretty good idea what she wanted to say but he was still nervous.

"Chris..." She started off. "I didn't want to tell you this because I know that you like Ashley but after all the shit that's been happening tonight, I just can't anymore." She took in another deep breath, more shakey this time. "I... have feelings for you." She immediately looked down and hugged her arms timidly. Chris stepped up to her.

"El, why are you telling me this now?" He asked. He reached over and held both of her hands. He felt her squeeze his hands.

"After loosing Josh, Matt, and Jess, I don't know what will happen. I just wanted you know just in case-" Chris jerked her hands down forcibly at that.

"Don't think like that! We're going to make it out of this El, I swear!" He said. Elena didn't seem conviced though. She hasn't looked up at him at all. Chris grit his teeth together. "Come on El, you got to trust me." Elena finally looked up at him but with she still had a worried expression.

"You can't make a girl a promise you know you can't keep." She said. Chris was a little surprised at this. As long as he's known Elena, she's always been somewhat optimistic and happy but ever since this night, she's changed. The fact she's even thinking about the possiblity of not surviving baffled him. He felt her let go of his hands and she turned away from him.

"We should get going. We can't let the others worry about us." She said in a somber tone. Chris was at loss of words at the moment so he simply nodded and started walking and Elena slowly followed. They got through without any problems amd they didn't speak to wach other either. Chris wanted to say something but he didn't know if anything he'd say would make it any better. They finally caught up up with Sam, Emily and Ashley. Ashley ran up and gave Elena a hug. Elena hesitantly returned it.

"I'm so glad you're ok." She said. She let go and looked over at Chris. "Chris!"

"Hey!" He said.

"God, what happened?" Chris looked at her sadly.

"I thought I heard Jess..." He said. Ashley put her hand to her mouth.

"Oh my God..." She mumbled. Elena walked away from the two, still replaying what happened in her head. She's not sure if telling him was the best idea. She kinda regreted it now. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps toward her. She looked up to see Emily in front of her.

"Hey..." She said. "I wanted to say thanks." Elena crossed her arms.

"We've lost a lot today. We need all the help we can get, even you." She said. Emily scoffed but she smiled.

"Always gotta be the smartass huh?" She said. She put her hand on her shoulder. "I missed you El." Elena was a little surpised but not enough. She knows Emily so who knows how long this will last. They all carried on ahead, not speaking at all and trying to stay together. Sam was leading them on as they all followed behind. Elena and Emily were up front with her and Ashley and Chris were behind. It almost pained her thinking of them being together. Will it ever be the same between them? Now that he knows, will they even still be friends after this?

"Wow. Great." She heard Sam say. She looked up to see there was a huge rock wall before them.

"Oh shit." Emily said. "Shit, dead end!" Sam shook her head.

"No no no I think I can, I think I can do it." She said. "It's like a rock wall. I'm gonna keep going."

"Are you serious?" Emily said. Sam gave her a look.

"Ugh, get back to the lodge!" She said. Emily looked at her confused.

"Uh, shouldn't we stick together?" She asked. Sam shook her head some more.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I have to get to Mike, with or without you!" She said. Elena stepped up to her.

"I'm going with you Sam." She said. Sam looked at her for a second but she simply nodded.

"Are you sure El?" Ashley said. Elena looked back at her and Chris. Chris had a worried look on his face. She let out a sigh and nodded to Ashley. Emily let out another sigh.

"You two just make it back, ok?" She said. She turned to leave and so did Ashley. Chris gave Elena a final look before he walked with them. Elena turned over to Sam.

"You ready, El?" She said. Elena nodded and they both reached for the wall and started climbing. Elena struggled a little since she wasn't an expert on climbing but she managed to keep up with Sam. She almost fell when a piece broke off but didn't lose her grip. Sam got up first, happily exclaiming at herself. She reached over and helped Elena up.

"Thanks Sam." She said. Sam nodded at her and they carried on. They got up to a metal door when they saw a Wendigo spirit appear. It may have been for a second but Elena was frightened by the sight of it. It looked so demented and evil and unlike anything she's ever seen before. No wonder Chris was scared out of his mind. Sam finally got the door to open with a shovel and they continued. They went up a staircase but right when they both got up, they crumbled behind them. As they kept on, they found a weird symbol and skull that was just disturbing to both of them. While they went on, a rock came loose and tumbled toward them. Thankfully, they both got out of the way without a problem. They carried on a little more when they heard a noise behind them.

"What the hell?" Elena mumbled. Sam pickrd up a pipe nearby and motioned for Elena to get down, which she followed. A door suddenly opens and Mike came running out with a burning Wendigo chasing after him.

"Mike!" Elena yelled. The Wendigo suddenly jumped on Mike. Sam quickly stood up.

"Holy shit!" She exclaimed. "HEY! FATTY! OVER HERE!" Sam tries to hit it. She hit it once but she missed the second time, giving the Wendigo time to push her out of the way. The Wendigo looked up at Elena with a menacing look. Elena looked around desperately for any weapon but there was nothing. Her eyes landed on Sam's pipe as she was getting up. The Wendigo let out a screech and started running toward her and Elena sprinted for the pipe. She grabbed it quickly and looked back to see the Wendigo coming toward her again. As it got closer, she swung the pipe with all her might, hitting the Wendigo and smashing it into the wall, killing it. Elena panted as she leaned on the wall.

"Whoa. You alright?" Mike asked walking up to her. Elena let out a nervous chuckle.

"Uh, define _alright._ " She joked. Mike let out a smile. He reached over to Sam and helped her up.

"Alive, for a start." He replied. Sam chuckled also.

"Yeah, yeah. Alive's good." She said. She turned over to Elena. "Thanks El. You were awesome." Elena smiled.

"I tried." She replied.

"What the hell you two doing here, anyway?" Mike suddenly asked.

"I was gonna warn you about the Wendigos." Sam replied. All their eyes landed on the dead Wendigo. Elena made a face of disgust.

"I think I got it." Mike said.

"Yeah, duh." Elena said. Mike stepped back and directed to the ladies.

"Let's find a way down to where this fucker lives." He said. Elena felt a lump in her throat, making her look down at the Wendigo again. She's not sure if she can face these things again. She merely just got lucky since this one was almost dead when they fought it. Who knows if the full ones will be the same.

"You coming El?" She heard Sam say. She looked up to see both her and Mike ready to leave. "You can go back to the lodge if you want." Elena wasn't sure if it was her bravery or her stupidity but she just couldn't refuse, no matter how scared she was.

"No, I'm coming." She said as she walked up to them.

"Well then let's go." Mike said and they all went deeper down the tunnels.

 _ **since the school year is ending, its been kicking my ass for the past few weeks. thts why this chapter took so long. sorry!!:( ill try to post the next and LAST (yeah, you heard me) chapter ASAP! hope you guys enjoy!**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

As they worked their way down into the mines, Mike and Sam started talking more about the Wendigos. Mike mentioned how those other Wendigos might be way back from the 50s when miners were trapped in the mines. They probably almost starved to death before they resulted to cannibalism, which is what turns them into Wendigos. Elena couldn't imagine how hard it is to be trapped somewhere for weeks, maybe months without eating. They got up to a lake and they knew the only way to get across was to jump in. Elena was about to go in when she noticed something to her left. As she got closer, she saw a hole and some bones in it.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed. Sam and Mike joined her. Sam got closer to it.

"Mike... is that what I think it is?" Sam said. Mike inched closer to look.

"Shit. Looks like a grave." He said. Elena noticed something there. She inched closer and grabbed what looked like to be a watch. She turned it around and saw Beth's initials on it, making her gasp.

"Oh God! Guys, this is Beth's! This is her watch!" She exclaimed.

"What? Let me see..." Mike said. She handed it over for him to inspect it.

"Look!" Sam said pointing to a spot on the ground. Elena looked to see there was a small indent by the grave. "There was a cross here."

"So this is where she was buried." Mike said.

"But... who dug her up?" Sam asked. Elena got up, not being able to take anymore of this.

"Let's just keep moving." She said. None of them objected as they walked over to the water. Mike immediately got into the water while both Sam and Elena hesitated.

"Come on. It's ok." Mike urged.

"You sure?" Sam asked.

"I'm not dead yet." He replied.

"Famous last words." Sam mumbled as she got ready to jump in. She stopped when she noticed Elena wasn't following. Elena had her hand clutched at her side, where her cut was at.

"El, I'm sure it'll be fine. Here." Sam held out her hand to her, giving Elena a slight feeling of reassurance. Elena took it and both got into the water, immediately exclaiming at the sudden feeling of the cold.

"Fucking hell!" Elena exclaimed.

"It'a freezing!" Sam followed. "I can't feel my fingers." They started to walk forward and they noticed it was getting deeper.

"Holy shit." Mike mumbled.

"Wait a minute. I thought you'd reach the deepest part." Sam inquired.

"I didn't say that. I said it was okay, meaning like there weren't any sharks or anything in here." Mike replied.

"Sharks. Great, thank you!" Elena said. They started walking to another ledge and climbed up. Elena winced at the pain from her cut but she did her best to ignore it. She noticed some sort of paper on the ground in front of them. They walked up to it and Sam bent down and opened it. It looked like a journal and it had Hannah's handwriting on it.

"I'm sorry Beth..." Sam read one page aloud. "I have no choice. It's the only way I can survive anymore. If someone finds this, I'm sorry. I had to... I had no choice."

"What does it mean... Jesus..." Mike mumbled. Sam read on until the last entry, which seemed like Hannah was driven to maddness by hunger and the last page was nothing but scribbles.

"Oh God... it makes sense." Sam said as she stood up. She had a discouraged look on her face. "I think... Hannah dug up Beth. It was Hannah!" Elena looked at her in disbelief.

"No. That's- that's ridiculous." She denied.

"El, it has to be. It's the only thing that makes sense. Beth died in the fall." Sam said. Elena couldn't believe it. Could Hannah have really become... one of those things?

"So what... what does that mean?" Mike asked.

"Hannah must have buried her." Sam replied.

"Godammit." Elena mumbled to herself. She had a pretty good idea where this was going but that still didn't change the fact it sounds so unbelievable.

"She would have been starving. She would have been desperate..." Sam trailed off as she came to a realization. "We need to find Josh. Right now!" Elena put aside her thoughts and quickly followed them back into the water. The water was still cold and it stung her cut like hell but she wasn't concerned about that anymore. She could only think about Hannah. Could she have really turned into a Wendigo, all that time ago? She was so deep in thought that she almost didn't realize that they finally made it across thw water and were up against a metal door. When Sam unlocked the door, water came gushing out of it.

"Holy shit!" Elena exclaimed as she fell on the floor from the force as did the others. They quickly got up and entered through the door. Elena looked up to see the stranger's body hanging from above, making her eyes widen.

"You see that?" She asked outloud.

"Yeah..." Mike said.

"Bodies..." Sam softley added. Elena held her mouth as she looked away.

"I'm going to be sick." She said. They did their best to keep walking while ignoring the body above. Mike suddenly stopped.

"Wait! Hold on. I think I saw something." He said looking between some wooden boards. Elena and Sam followed his gaze and saw Josh through them, seemingly talking to nothing.

"Josh!" Sam exclaimed. They found a door to the room and quickly ran up to him. Even though they were standing right in front of him, it didn't seem like he even saw them and he was still talking to something.

"What's the matter with him Mike?" Elena asked.

"He's tripping or something." Mike replied. He slapped Josh and yelled out his name. It seemed now Josh finally noticed him.

"M-Mike?" He said.

"Josh. Hey man." Mike said. Josh rubbed his cheek.

"Don't h-hit me, p-please." He said.

"You were deep in it, man. Full mental jacket." Mike replied.

"We didn't think we'd get you back." Elena said. Josh looked at her with sympathy. She was surprised when he walked up and hugged her out of nowhere.

"Oh, El, I'm sorry. So so sorry. Please forgive me." He said almost sobbing. Elena was taken back by his apology.

"Josh, it's ok. Really, it's fine." She said. Even though she said that, she couldn't find it in herself to return the hug. She patiently waited for him to her go.

"Josh," Sam said. Josh turned to her. Sam took in a small breath. "Hannah was down here for... weeks, a month! She dug Beth up!" Elena saw the surprised look on Jpsh's face.

"Sam..." Mike said walking up to her but Elena put her hand out to stop him.

"Mike..." She said. She knew how hurtful this could be, but she knew Josh had to hear it. Mike didn't obey as he shook his head to her.

"Let's just get the fuck out of here." He said. Elena looked over at Sam, who immediately nodded.

"Ok. Josh, do you have the key for the cable car?" She asked.

"Uh... y-yeah. Here." He nodded and handed them to Sam. Sam looked over and pointed up a rock wall as the other followed.

"See that over there? That means there's a direct way out. Come on." She said. Mike shook her head.

"There's no way Josh is gonna make it up there." He said. They all thought for a second when Elena finally spoke up.

"Here, give me the key." She said. "If you guys can help me up, I can go back and tell the others we're ok." Sam looked at her

"Are you sure, El? It's a pretty long climb." Sam asked. Elena nodded without hesitation. She knew she wasn't the best climber and could fall, but she felt this was the best way to get back as fast as they could so they could get out of here.

"Yeah, don't worry. You can bring Josh back the way we came and we'll all meet at the lodge." She said. Sam looked over at Mike for a second opinion. Mike took a minute before nodding his head.

"Hey, if it can get us out, I'm all for it." He said. Sam let out a sigh and nodded her head. She walked up to Elena and handed her the key.

"Be careful." She said. Elena nodded back.

"You too." She said. They walked to the wall and Sam and Mike gave Elena a boost as she started climbing.

* * *

It was a challenge climbing the wall for Elena but she made it nonethless. She wasn't sure if she was glad being out of mines or not. She couldn't think about that now. She had to make it back to lodge to get to the others and see Chris. She felt her heart beat against her chest when she thought of him. She kept thinking over confessing her feelings to him. Was it really the right thing to do? Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized she almost walked into the lake.

"Oh, fuck me." She mumbled to herself. She walked into the water and let out a shriek when she went waist deep. Not only was the water ice cold but it stung her cut like crazy. She grit her teeth as she kept on, doing her best to ignore the pain. She let out a quiet sigh of relief when she reached the end but she winced again. She lifted her shirt and saw the bandages were coming loose. She shifted it down to see her wound was starting to bleed again.

"God dammit." She said. She was about to see if she could find anything else to wrap it with but she suddenly heard a loud noise. She knew she couldn't waste anymore time with those things close behind. She walked faster, keeping one hand her wound to try to slow down the bleeding. She came up to a ledge what was too high to jump off of. She sat down and slid herself down. Her landing was hard as she almost fell forward. She quickly got up and started walking again. She walked past a shed when she heard a Wendigo screech. She wasted no time and immediately sprinted off, not looking back. This made her cut hurt even more and she started feeling her side getting wet. Even so, she kept running as the lodge was finally coming to view. She ran to open the door but it was locked.

"HEY! HEY!" She screamed as she shook the door. "COME ON OPEN UP! GUYS COME ON ARE YOU IN THERE? LET ME IN!" She shook the door some more but it was in vain as it didn't budge.

"El-" She heard behind her. She spun around quickly but relaxed when she saw it was Sam and Mike.

"Shit, guys!" She said. She took one more look at Mike who looked more bruised than he was before. "Oh gosh, you look terrible."

"Gonna look worse if we stay out here. Come on." He said. Sam stepped up to the door with a rock in her hand. She smashed the glass, making a hole for her to reach in and unlock the door. Once opened, they all went inside.

"Oh shit, El!" Sam exclaimed. She went over to her side, which had started to stain red.

"Oh, yeah. The bandages came loose and I started bleeding again." Elena said.

"We need to get down there now." Sam said. She and Mike started to walk on but Elena noticed Josh was no where to be seen.

"Wait, guys, what happened to Josh?" She asked. Mike gave her a sad look.

"It got him." Mike said. Elena gasped and held her hands over her mouth.

"Oh my gosh!" She said.

"El, we can't waste anymore time." Sam said. "Those things are very close and we also need to patch that cut up again." It took a second for Elena agree and they started walking toward the basement. Elena did her best to keep her wound covered while they walked on. They were right at the door when Chris came running out of it.

"GET OUTTA HERE! GO, GO, GO!" He screamed as he ran off. Ashley and Emily came running out next. Emily pushed Ashley out of the way.

"GO! GO, WE GOTTA GO!" Emily yelled out.

"GO! RUN!" Ashley added. Elena opened the door and saw a Wendigo appear in the hallway. She stood frozen for a second.

"Oh, shit." Mike said. "Guys, run!" Sam and Mike turned and ran back upstairs. Elena came back to her senses, grabbed the door, closed it, and locked it. She was startled by the door being banged on but she turned and ran up with the others. She ran up to the main floor but froze in place when she saw a Wendigo on the lodge's ceiling decor.

"Don't... move..." She heard Mike whisper. "Don't fucking move a muscle." Elena stared in fear as the Wendigo stared intently at them, looking for any sign of movement. She remembered that the Wendigos see things with movement so she did her best not to move.

She heard something on her right and saw the Wendigo look over in that direction. It suddenly jumps and she sees from the corner of her eye another Wendigo there. They start fighting, one Wendigo overpowering the other, throwing it at the stairs and then throwing it at th e fireplace. It tried to run away by climbing the wall but the other Wendigo follows.

Elena noticed Mike looking somewhere. She looked his direction and saw a broken pipe. She noticed him looking upwards and then near the exit. She followed his gaze, her eyes landing on a light bulb and the light switch at the exit. She knew what he was planning. She noticed him looking at her and Sam and they both nodded in agreement.

Both Wendigos suddenly jump down on the ground, almost startling Elena. One Wendigo grabbed the other by the head, smashed it to the ground, and then ripped its head off, decapitating it. Elena heard a creak beside her, making her eyes widen a little. The Wendigo screeched and looked over to Sam's direction. Elena gulped as she stiffened again. She noticed behind the Wendigo Mike was slowly making his way to the light bulb. He reached over and grabbed it, breaking it as best as he could. It didn't go unnoticed as the Wendigo walked over to him and screamed in his face. Elena knew she had to do something.

"Hey!" She screamed. The Wendigo screeched in her direction and walked up to her. She stood as still as she could. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mike and Sam slowly backing away to the exit. They stopped when the Wendigo turned away from Elena. She knew she had to buy some more time for everyone to get out before she flipped the switch. She ran and hid behind one of the pillars. The Wendigo screeched and appeared to her again. She waited patiently for the Wendigo to leave as she stood very still. Once it happened, she let out a quick sigh of relief and looked around to see if anyone was still there. It looked like Ashley, Emily and Chris all made it out of the lodge. She felt relieved at that but noticed Mike and Sam were still inside, right at the exit. She looked over at another wall closer to the switch, sprinted toward it and hid there. As expected, the Wendigo came up to her again, this time, almost right at her face. She shut her eyes so she didn't have to look at it and bit her lip when it screamed in her face to keep herself from flinching. She heard it receading, opened her eyes and saw that Mike and Sam were out now. She looked over at the switch, it was now her chance! She sprinted toward the exit, ignoring the screeches and and the thumps behind her. She reached over to the switch and flipped it, making the lodge explode in flames. The force from the blast made Elena fly out. She rolled on the ground before completely stopping, motionless.

Chris saw this. He noticed she wasn't moving or getting up. He ran up to her, almost paniking.

"El? El, are you ok?" He said. He nealt down to her. Her eyes were closed and she didn't seem to hear. He noticed a red stain on her side, making him even more worried. He started hearing choppers overhead

"No." He said. He pick her up held her in his arms. She still didn't react to anything and remained motionless. "No, no, no!" Chris started feeling tears well up in his eyes. "Please, please wake up!" He shook her a little but there was still no response. "Come on El, don't do this to me!" He started feeling the tears fall from his eyes. He felt someone walk up to him.

"Chris..." He looked up to see Ashley next to him. "The people are here. We need to go." Chris looked down at Elena again. She still lay motionless in his arms. He heard some more footsteps coming his way. He looked up again to see a guy with gun come up to him.

"Come on, let's get you out of here." He said. He looked down at Elena. "Don't worry, we'll take care of her."

* * *

"Is El ok?" Chris asked the interviewer. The rescuers took them somewhere for questioning and to patch everyone up. He was surprised to see Jessica and Matt again since he thought they were dead but he was still worried. They had taken Elena away while she was still out and he had no idea if she was alive or not.

"Sir?" The interviewer asked. He grew a little frusrated.

"She came flying out of the blast and she was bleeding and she wouldn't wake up! Is she ok?!" He almost yelled out.

"Sir, please calm down." The interviewer said. "She was knocked unconcious and she did lose some blood but she's ok. She recently woke up." Chris stood there for a second, shocked and relieved. He let out a sigh.

"I almost lost her... twice. I almost didn't get to tell her..." He said.

"Tell her what?" The interviewer asked. Chris looked down for a minute before looking back at the interviewer.

"That I love her..."

* * *

After Elena woke up and patched up her injuries, they took her in for questioning. She hasn't seen anyone yet as they were all either getting questioned or being examined for their injuries.

"Is everybody ok?" She asked the interviewer. "I blacked out after the explosion so I don't know who made it out."

"Don't worry ma'am. Everyone made out ok." He said.

"Matt? Jess? Are they alive?" She asked.

"Yes, they're all fine."

"Chris?" She saw the interviewer nod, which made her so relieved.

"Is that all? We have some questions we need to ask you." Elena nodded at him. "Ok, first, we need to ask you about Josh. We haven't found him yet. Do you know where he could be?" Elena looked down for a second.

"The Wendigo, it took him." She said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Elena scoffed at herself.

"I know it sounds crazy, but after what we all went through last night, you really think I would kid about this? Believe me or not, that's the truth." The interviewer paused as he thought for second.

"Ok..." He let out a sigh. "What about your injuries? How did you get them?" Elena looked down at her side.

"It was..." She clutched her hands together. "It was Josh. He did this to me."

"Josh did this to you? Why?" She looked up at the interviewer very seriously.

"Josh is... sick. He was messed up so... he did some crazy shit." She didn't know what else to say about it. She didn't want to mention anything about the "prank" he pulled on them at all. She let out a sigh at this.

"Did he do anything else to you guys?" The interviewer. Elena looked up to him very seriously.

"I'd rather not say." She replied. "I just want to forget that this even happened."

* * *

After they finished with her, she was taken to a waiting room where the others were. Ashley was the first to run up and hug her.

"Oh, thank God you're ok!" She said. "I thought you didn't make it. I was so worried." She released her. Elena looked at the others, who were no walking up to her. She could see everyone was accounted for except for Jessica and Chris.

"Where's Chris?" She asked. She saw a shift in Ashley's face.

"They're still questioning him." Sam replied. "And in case you're wondering, Jess is getting patched up. She's had it worse than any of us." This is when Elena's eyes shifted to Matt, who was standing at the back. She squeezed through the others and walked up to him.

"Glad you're ok, Matt. We thought you were dead." She said. Matt nodded at her.

"Yeah, so I've heard." He said. "I was stuck in the mines with Jess." She saw him look down at her neck. "What happened to you?" Elena looked down for a second and reached over at her neck.

"Josh." She replied. She heard him sigh.

"Right. Still can't believe he actually did this." He said. They suddenly heard footsteps behind them. They all turned to see Jessica coming up to them. Mike immediately ran up to her. He carefully embraced her and looked at her, examining all her injuries. Sam wasn't kidding, Jessica looked like she had been through hell. They all walked up to her, silently exclaiming at how bad she looked but all being thankful she was alive. Elena was about to go to her but she felt a tap behind her shoulder. She looked to see Ashley looking at her very seriously.

"We need to talk." She said. Elena didn't get a chance to process this as she was dragged away from everyone else to the corner. Ashley turned to her and let out a heavy sigh.

"Is everything alright, Ash?" Elena asked. Ashley took in a breath.

"Just be honest with me, El..." She said, staring at her intently. "You like Chris, don't you?" Elena felt her heart stop for a second.

"Um..." Elena hugged her arms and started feeling uneasy. She couldn't form a sentance, not knowing what to say. She knew she couldn't lie, so all she did was nod to her. Ashley didn't take her eyes off of her but her face softened a little.

"I appriciate your honesty." She said. She let out another sigh. "Look, I'm not happy about it, honestly." Elena looked away from her. "But I can't deny that the look you give each other says it all." Elena looked up at her surprised.

"What? What are you talking about? What look?" She asked. Ashley let out a small chuckle.

"You're telling me you haven't noticed?" She said. Elena was a little dumbfounded. She was been too busy trying to survive the whole night to even care. She let a sigh as she held her head.

"So, what does that make us?" She asks. She looked up to see Ashley with a confused look.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean, does this change anything between us?" She felt her throat clench, waiting for an answer. She saw Ashley shake her head and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Come on, El. You really think this will change anything?" She said. "Yeah, it might get some getting used to, maybe for a while, but you will always be my best friend." Elena was at loss for words. She never expected this at all. She was so surprised that she didn't even react to when Ashley hugged her. She heard quick steps behind her. She turned to see Chris standing there, almost in a daze. She turned to Ashley, who patted her on the shoulder.

"I'll leave you to it." She said. She gave her a smile and walked past her and Chris. Chris stumbled to Elena and hugged her tightly.

"Oh my God, El, I've been worried sick. I thought you didn't make it!" He said. He looked at her. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" He looked down at her side.

"Chris, don't worry. I'm fine now." She said. She looked down at his leg. "What about you? Are you going to be ok?" Chris shook his head.

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal." He said. He started to reach over to her side but Elena held both of his hands.

"Chris, seriously, quit it. You're not making this any better." She said. Chris stood up and looked at her.

"Sorry, it's just..." His grip tightened on her hands. He let out a breath. "I got so scared. You wouldn't wake up and you were bleeding. I honestly thought you were..." He looked down. Elena reached over and placed a hand on his face.

"Chris, I'm right here and I'm fine." She said. She looked back at the others who were all either talking to one another or sitting alone. "We're all fine." Chris looked at her again. Elena felt her heart skip a beat when she felt his hand go up to her shoulders and he started getting closer.

"Thank God for that." He said. "I almost lost the chance to tell you." Elena felt her heart stop as she looked into his eyes.

"Tell me what?" She asked softly. They both stood there for a couple of seconds, staring at each other. Elena didn't even notice how close he got to her face. She closed her eyes as she felt his breath on her face. She then felt his lips touch hers, softly at first. She then felt him push a little more, almost even fierce. He kissed her again and this time she kissed back. She felt his hands go down to her waist and put her arms around his neck without thinking it. He pulled back and Elena stared into his eyes again.

"Hope that summed it up for you." he said. She let out a smile and gave a small nod. Her eyes shifted back to the others and Chris followed her gaze. Mike was holding Jessica, who was leaning on his shoulder. Elena made a face when she saw the nasty scratch on her chest. Her cut was nothing compared to everything she has. Emily looked a little pissed at Matt while they were talking. She had a bad feeling it won't end well for him. Sam and Ashley were sitting together. It looked like Ashley was comforting her as Sam was hugging herself and looking worried. It must be because of Josh. Elena let out a sigh.

"It won't ever be the same for us, will it?" She asked aloud. Chris looked at her again with a somewhat sad expression.

"Probably not." He said. Chris lace his fingers between hers and squeezed it a little. "Any news on Josh?" He heard her swallow and she squeezed his hand back. He knew what that meant. He let out a sigh. He didn't know what else to say. After last night, their lives will now be a battle to try and get back to normal with most people not even being able to believe their stories.

"How are we supposed to get back to our normal lives now? We'll never be able to get over this, not after all the shit that's happened last night." Elena said.

"Yeah, you're right." Chris replied." He put his arm around her and held her close. He felt her lean onto him, which made his heart pound a little faster. "But we will. We just need some time. It may take a while but we will." He looked down at her. "And you'll have me." She looked up at him with a small smile. She let out a small chuckle.

"That, I do." She said. They both sat down, still holding each other, as they all waited for the next chapter of their lives to begin together.

 **End**

 ** _*geez, it seems every time i get to the end of a story, i get the worst writers block. sorry!! this was a little longer since i had to fit the whole lodge scene and make up the morning after scene. i hope you guys enjoyed. thanks for all those who've favorited, followed, and saved the story. it really makes me happy that you guys enjoy my stories. again, thanks so much and stay tuned for my other stories.*_**


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